


Need To Know

by lanalucy



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Sexual Situations, Brother-Sister Relationships, Brotherly Affection, Brothers, Coffee Shops, Dating, F/M, Falling In Love, First Dates, First Kiss, Flirting, Friendship/Love, Gen, Healthy Relationships, Honesty, Kissing, Making Up, Male-Female Friendship, Marriage Proposal, Minor Character Death, Motorcycles, Movie Night, Romance, Sibling Love, Snippets, Texting, Wedding Planning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-14
Updated: 2014-02-09
Packaged: 2017-12-23 11:00:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 27,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/925579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanalucy/pseuds/lanalucy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern-day AU where Kara's mom died when she was young and her brother Ben raised her, with the help of family friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Need To Know

**Author's Note:**

> I plan to write vignettes as they come to me, rather than an A-to-B narrative (which means they won't get written in a logical order). Each chapter will be in this universe, and will stand alone. I WILL fix the order as I post them, so they make sense when read in chapter order.
> 
> Thanks to newnumbertwo {hugs} for the beta, and for enthusiastically embracing an AU where Kara has a brother and she and Lee are not quite so messed up.

Kara was running late.  She did her best to be home on Tuesdays by seven, because if Ben was able to get to a phone or computer, that’s when he called her.  He’d missed the last two Tuesdays, and she was itching to see his face, make sure he was still in one piece.

This was her brother’s third deployment - the price of being good at his job, whatever it was.  He didn’t talk about it much.  She’d learned a long time ago that Ben told her what he could, and if he gave her a vague answer to a question, it meant he couldn’t talk about it - Need To Know, and she didn’t.  At least as far as the government was concerned.

She got her salad stuff thrown together, diced some chicken and nuked it, shook everything up so none of the lettuce would be naked, and grabbed a drink from the fridge.

Since Ben had been gone so often during the last two years, and since his salary paid for everything, at his insistence, she’d splurged and bought a large flat screen TV and a webcam and had them mounted on the wall in the living room.  The whole thing was connected to the internet, so all she had to do was turn it on, click the right thing on the screen, and wait.

~~~

She was chowing down on her salad, which probably tasted better than it should since she’d skipped lunch, when the TV lit up in front of her and she jumped.   _What the frak, Kara?_  Ben’s face was larger than life, as were the sling on his arm and the bruises on his face.  “What the frak happened to you?  Wait, don’t tell me.  You went grocery shopping and tried to steal the tomatoes an old lady had her eye on!”

“That’s it.  Exactly.  Woman was vicious.”  His grin looked like it hurt, but still, she was so glad to see his face.

“You think you’ll be able to come home any time before solstice?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe.  This campaign is going really well, and we’re ahead of schedule.  If you’re lucky, maybe I’ll be back in time for Homecoming.”

“Really?  That would be fantastic!”  He raised an eyebrow, and she added, “I know, I know.  Don’t count on it.  But Dillon’s varsity Pyramid’s got a winning streak going - they haven’t lost a match yet.  So Homecoming will be hoppin’ this year.  All the alumni will show up!”

“We’ll see.  What’s been going on?  How’s work?  You runnin’ the place yet?”

“Nah.  I like my uncorner office and my door with no glass.  I’ve been getting a lot more done with the Old Man on leave, though.  He talks a lot more than I thought he did, I guess.”  She laughed.

“How’s the love life?  Am I going to have a boyfriend to intimidate any time soon?”

Kara froze for a moment.   _Oh, gods.  Should I tell him?  I only just met him.  I don’t even know if I like him yet_.  Ben had already caught on, though.  He was good at that.

“You’ve met someone.  Are you sleeping with him yet?”

“Gods, Ben, no!  I only just met him on Saturday at Kendra’s.  I’m not even sure I like him - he’s a bit of a stuffed shirt.”

“Then why are you smiling talking about him, Kara?  Something’s got your blood pumping.”

“I don’t know.  There’s something.  I just - I don’t know.  Besides, it’s not like we exchanged phone numbers.  Or even last names.  Just two people talking at a party.”

“Uh-huh,” he teased.  “So, next time I call, you’d better have more to tell me.  Call Kendra.  Find out who he is.”  His glance appeared to focus over her head and he nodded very slightly.  “I’m gonna have to go, Kara, baby.  I love you.”

“I love you, too, Ben.  I miss you.”  Her smile was wistful.  “I want you home.”

“I know.  Gotta see how the rest of this campaign goes.”  He gave her a mock-stern glare.  “And next time - at least a last name.  I gotta check him out, see if he’s good enough for my baby sister.”

She grinned.  “Yeah.  Like I’m gonna give you any ammunition at all.  No way, bro.”

Then Ben was rushing off.  “Hey.  Really gotta go.  Call you when I can!” and the connection disappeared.

She really should remember to get a screencap sometime, so she’d have something to look at other than that black screen.

~~~

The next day at work, something reminded her of Ben’s suggestions, and she had a heated debate with herself over whether she wanted to ask Kendra for the guy’s name.  Kendra would tease her for months about it.  But, gods.  She’d woken up with the image of his one unfettered laugh in her mind, and she’d already decided she wanted to get to know him better.  Since she was at work, she took the coward’s way out and sent Kendra an email.

_Who was that guy I was talking to after dinner?  The one who looks like he never smiles, but when he does....?_  ...I melt into a puddle.  She didn't tell Kendra that part.

Several hours later, she had an answer and she rushed to the Old Man’s office.   _No way could I be so seriously unlucky._  And yet, when she looked at the picture on his desk, she could see the man in the young boy’s features.   _I gotta talk to the Old Man.  He’s never gonna believe that after all the time he’s spent telling me about his great - single - son, I met him and liked him without even knowing who he was.  And why the frak doesn’t he have a more recent picture?!  Why the frak did he never_ show _me a picture?!_  

She grabbed a couple of folders from his drawer just to keep up the pretense that she’d been in there for some research _Well, technically, it_ was _research!_ and headed back to her office, shutting the door decisively behind her.

_I have to come up with something to tell Ben, because I am not telling him this._


	2. It's Just Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having coffee.

There was an email in her inbox from Lee Adama.  She ignored it.  Tried to.  

Get rid of the spam.  Read and delete those joke emails from her high school friends who never seemed to send anything else.  Read and delete those emails from the dating site she wasn’t even sure she wanted to be on.   _Why is it so hard to find someone as good as Ben?_

When she’d responded to every email except that one, she still sat looking at it for a minute or two, then crossed her fingers and made herself click it.

_Hi Kara,_

_Kendra wouldn’t give me your phone number, but she would give me your email.  I hope that’s okay with you._

_I really enjoyed talking to you the other day._

_Would you be interested in meeting me for coffee an afternoon this week?  Both of us work, but maybe right after work?  My schedule’s somewhat flexible this week.  Or if that’s too much, I could take a morning break and meet you close to your office?  Kendra told me your office is near downtown._

_Lee Adama_

He’d included his cell phone number.  She thought about that, but she wasn’t ready to go there yet.  She put it in her phone, though.  Just in case.  Then she clicked “reply.”  It was just coffee, right?

_Lee,_

_I had fun talking to you, too.  Coffee sounds good.  There’s a Starbuck’s on my way home - right off the highway at the Henderson exit.  The only afternoon I have free this week is Thursday, so I hope that works for you.  6PM?_

_Kara_

She sat and looked at it, tempted to just erase the whole thing, but she _had_ asked Kendra about him.  She _did_ want to get to know him.  And it _was_ just coffee.  She read both emails over as if she were Ben.  He didn’t seem stalkery - kept it light and gave her choices, left it up to her where and when to meet.  She hadn’t given him either her work or home information.  He’d made it clear he’d talked to Kendra and wasn’t just emailing her out of the blue.  He hadn’t asked for her last name, and she hadn’t given it.  She sighed.  Sometimes having a brother in the military was a pain in the ass.  She preferred to take things at face value, but she’d learned the hard way a couple of times that Ben’s caution was justified.  She looked it over again, thought about whether or not to include her phone number and decided not to.   _He’ll have to ask for it if he wants it_.

She took a deep breath and clicked “send.”

~~~

Thursday was hectic.  Kara thanked the gods that the Old Man was on leave, because she could not keep her head in the game.  She was just too nervous about meeting Lee for coffee to concentrate.  She finally gave up around four and started cleaning off her desk.  She could just get there early, stake out a couple of comfy chairs and read on her e-reader.   _Old Man hates that thing.  He’s so weird about technology_.  She laughed, wondering how Lee felt about it.

She and Lee must have been on the same wavelength.  She looked up about fifteen minutes after she sat down at the Starbuck’s to see Lee standing in front of her.  They both looked at their watches and she laughed.  She wondered if she should say something about it.

He gave her a very careful smile.  “I was a little nervous that you wouldn’t show up.  I’m really glad to see you here.”

_I want to see him laugh again.  Not that I need to melt into a puddle at Starbuck’s, but I want to see him unguarded.  There was something about him in that moment_.  She pointed to her purse.  “I saved you a seat.”

He looked at her for a moment, something flickering in his eyes, then said, “I’ll be right back.”

When he came back, he completely unselfconsciously sat down and put her purse in his lap.   _Point in the plus column_.

“What are you reading?”  He took a sip of his coffee.

“I’ve got some favorites on here - poetry.  Didn’t want to get too involved in a good story.  I can enjoy poetry in much smaller bites.”

They launched into conversation, and it flowed as easily as it had at Kendra’s.  They could talk about everything - not that they always agreed, but he was respectful rather than condescending when his opinions differed from hers.  He was smart, and appeared to appreciate that she was, too.

Kara’s stomach rumbled suddenly, and her eyes widened guiltily.  She glanced at her watch.   _No wonder.  We’ve been talking for over two hours_.

When he smiled this time, it covered his whole face and she felt something inside her click into place.   _Definitely not telling Ben about this yet_.

“I’m hungry, too.  There’s a burger place right there.”  He pointed across the parking lot.  “We could walk over there, sit on the patio.”

She stood and held out her hand for her purse.  He laughed when he realized what she wanted, and _Oh, there it is again_. handed her the purse as he stood.

When they got to the burger joint, he didn’t protest when she paid for her own food, though she could clearly see he wanted to.   _Another point in the plus column, Kara_.  They found a good table on the patio and chatted desultorily about local happenings, the Pyramid team, nothing personal this time, but still easy and comfortable, with that little electrical current flowing through everything.

After, they walked back to their cars, and when they stopped at hers, she wasn’t sure what to do.  She knew what she wanted, but....  Her eyes roamed his face, trying desperately to avoid those lips, and after a couple of minutes of almost uncomfortable silence, she gave in.  “I’m sorry.  I know this wasn’t a date, but I really have to do this.”  She dropped her purse, lifted both hands to his face and kissed him.  She wasn’t touching him anywhere else, and she wasn’t using her tongue, but _Gods!_  She stepped back, and he looked as shell-shocked as she felt.    

She picked up her purse and got in the car.  When she looked back as she pulled into the street, he was still watching her.

~~~


	3. It Wasn't a Date, Was It?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after the coffee date.

That kiss was at the forefront of her thoughts the next day, and she was grateful that the Old Man was not only on leave, but had taken an incommunicado weekend - she could reach him if she needed to, but he wasn’t going to be calling in.  She could hole up in her office and pretend to work - she’d make it up later, of course.   _Oh, frak it all_.  She sat back and closed her eyes, letting the previous evening play through her mind.  If a couple of times that kiss ended a little differently in her mind, no one had to know.

She started at a knock on the door, sat up straighter and called out, “Enter.”  A pleasantly scruffy young man opened the door tentatively, holding a small vase of flowers - carnations, daisies, sunflowers.  He approached her desk, asking, “Kara?”

She nodded.  “I’m Kara.”

The young man looked relieved.  He put the vase down, taking a moment to fluff the flowers a little, and handed her the card envelope.  He walked slowly back to the door, and she didn’t notice him watching the soft smile spread across her face as she read the card.   _So that’s dad’s Kara.  She’s just as pretty as dad always said she was.  I’ll have to officially meet her now that she’s dating Lee.  I wonder if I can adopt her as my sister now or do I have to wait until Lee makes his move?  Maybe Dad can invite us both over for dinner so he can introduce us.  Is she going to think it’s weird that I delivered Lee’s flowers once she knows who I am?_  

~~~

Kara sat and looked at the flowers, the card forgotten in her hand.   _He made such a sweet choice.  Low-key flowers, but bright and sunny and gods, I want to kiss him again_.  She went back and forth in her head whether or not she should call him to thank him for the flowers, but finally she fell back to her original decision - she wasn’t giving him her number until he asked for it - so she emailed him.  His almost immediate response made her laugh, because it seemed so unlike the man she’d had coffee and dinner with the night before, but so like the man who sometimes smiled at her.  

_I’m glad you liked them.  Can we have coffee again soon?  Like today, maybe?  :D_

_Lee_

_***_

_Sorry.  I’m going to the movies tonight with some girlfriends.  Maybe Monday after work?_

_Kara_

_***_

_I guess I can wait that long._

_Lee_

_p.s.  In case you can’t tell, I’m pouting._

_***_

_I don’t reward bad behavior.  :D_

_Besides, who are you and what have you done with my stuffy Lee?_

_Kara_

_***_

_Stuffy?  You think I’m **stuffy**?  And you like it?_

_***_

Kara pondered how to answer that, wondered if he’d picked up on the accidental “my” in that last email and was just coyly ignoring it, or if he was fishing for more.  She opted for honesty, because there really wasn’t a point in pretending she didn’t like him.  A lot.

_I like it.  Some of it.  What I really like is the way you smile at me.  I get the feeling smiling isn’t something you do very often and when you smile at **me** , well….._

***

_Really?  *is intrigued*  Maybe I should smile more often._

_***_

_I think you should, but maybe you can save most of them for me_.  Because it gets me hot.  But I’m not telling you that part right now.

She’d hesitated before sending that one, because it implied something a little more serious than they were, having coffee and dinner just the one time, but then she shrugged.   _What the hell.  I **really** like him._

***

_You make me smile more than anyone else I know, so I can probably do that.  *smiles*_

_I have to get back to work.  Sorry.  I’ll talk to you on Monday?_

_***_

_Definitely, Lee.  Definitely._

_***_

Kara sat back in her chair.  She was so giddy she decided to pack it in for the day.  Lee was bad for her work ethic.  All things considered, she thought her boss might be okay with the occasional early start to a weekend.  Shopping was in order, anyway.  She didn’t have to meet the girls for the movie until eight, so she could go find something spectacular that would knock Lee’s socks off on Monday without it seeming like she was dressing up just for him.  Maybe some new underwear, too, because no matter what she wore on the outside, the right underwear made her feel good about herself for some reason.  And when she eventually slept with him _No point lying to myself, I already want to frak him_ , she wanted to make a good first impression.  

~~~

Lee got back to his office and was distracted by finishing up the paperwork for this case, so he didn’t notice the series of emails from Kara at first.  When he did, it only took him a couple of minutes to place the blame on Zak. _What the frak does Zak think he’s doing?_  Then he read the emails.   _Zak sent her flowers?  She likes my stuffiness?  Her Lee?  And I'm supposed to have coffee with her again on Monday?  Maybe I won’t kill Zak after all.  But we are going to have a little discussion about boundaries and using his hacking powers only for good._

~~~

“I had the weirdest bunch of emails in my inbox this afternoon, Zak.  Apparently, I’m such an amazing guy that I can be in two places at once, because while I was out of the office, I was also sending Kara flowers and flirting with her via email.”

Zak laughed at him.  “You can thank me later, Lee.  I just gave you a bit of an edge.”

“And how exactly did you manage to get into my email account?  My work email is on a secure server.”

Zak just shook his head.  “I thought you of all people would understand that nothing is secure once it’s out on the internet.”

“What am I going to do with you, Zak?”  Lee smacked him in the arm, and Zak pretended to be hurt.

“You’re going to ask me to be Best Man at your wedding.”

Lee’s jaw dropped.  ‘What the frak, Zak?  I haven’t even been out on a proper date with her, and already you think I’m going to marry her?  Something about this whole thing I don’t know?”

_Lots about this whole thing you don’t know, Lee, but if I told you now, you’d stop seeing her, and you’d never be the same._  “Not a thing, Lee.  Just trying to make sure you don’t drive this one away.  After all, in some cultures, I can’t get married until you do, since you’re older.”

“Oh, my gods.  You are frakking insane, Zakary.”

“And you are a stick-in-the-mud.  But apparently, she likes that.  A lot.  ‘My stuffy Lee,’ I think she said.  Trust me on this one, Lee, if she’s calling you hers after one coffee date, she’s just as gone as you are.  Better grab her before she realizes what a mess you are.”  Zak smirked at Lee from across the room.

“Did you at least send her good flowers?”

“She loved them, Lee.  She got the goofiest smile on her face.”

Lee whipped back around.  “Wait.  You not only sent her flowers from me, but you delivered them?  How the frak did you manage that?  I don’t even know where she works.”

“I have my ways.  Just took a couple of phone calls.”   _And knowing that she works for dad_.  “Seriously, Lee.  You want this one to stick around, don’t you?  You want to go on a real date with her?  Right?”

“Yeah, I do,” was Lee’s grudging admission.

“Then you have to make a little extra effort for her.  She’s special, so treat her that way.  Flowers.  A surprise phone call.  A text here and there.  Just the little things that will keep you on her mind, and let her know that she’s important to you.”  Lee was shaking his head.  “What?”

“I don’t have her cell phone number.”

“Well, why the frak haven’t you asked for it, you moron?”

“I have to ask for it?”  Lee was dumbfounded.

“If she hasn’t given it to you, she’s waiting for you to ask for it.  Maybe she’s cautious.  So when you have coffee on Monday, **thanks to your dear little brother** , ask her for her phone number.  At the end of the date.  And watch her.   I’ll bet you twenty cubits she smiles when you do.”

Three days later, at the end of another amazing couple of hours talking to Kara over coffee, he worked up his courage.  As he walked her to her car, he wondered if Zak was right or if he was just going to make a fool of himself.  He opened her car door after she’d unlocked it and watched her toss her purse across into the passenger seat.   _Gods.  I’m about to frak this up_.  She turned back to him and he blurted out, “I had a great time again tonight.”

She nodded.  “Me, too.”

“I’d really like to call you.”

“I’d like that, Lee.”

“Then maybe I could get your phone number?” _Wow.  Impressive, Lee.  Lots of finesse.  You are hopeless._  Even as he was berating himself, he watched the smile spread slowly across her face.

“You have something to write on?”

He pulled his phone out of his pocket.  “You could just put it in here.  I have some paper in the car, but not on me.”

She took his phone, her fingers sliding tantalizingly against his in the process, and she said, “This is fine.  Do you list by last name, or first name?”  

If he hadn’t already been half in love with her, he would have fallen at that moment.  Zak was constantly telling him how weird he was about things like that, but somehow, she got it.  “Last name.  Thank you for asking.”  She typed what seemed like a lot more than just a phone number into his phone, then handed it back to him.  

When he tried to take it back, she held on and tugged him closer.   _This one, I don’t need your help on, Zak_.  He stepped in and touched his mouth to hers, lips clinging just a bit.  He kissed her harder, and her free hand went around his neck, pulling him even closer.  He took his phone out of her slackened hand and dropped it in his pocket, then backed her into her car door.  Moments later, he stepped back, giving them both a chance to breathe.  “I um, I should probably go now.”

“Probably,” she agreed, but made no move to get into her car.

He kissed her again, quickly, then backed up.  “This is me leaving.”

“I can see that.”  She snickered.

He backed up another couple of steps.  “Really leaving.”

“Okay.”

“Really.”

“Would it help if I got in my car?” she asked.

“Probably.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Believe me, I know the feeling.”

“On the count of three?  We just turn around and walk away?” she suggested.

“Okay.”

“Hey, Lee?”

“Yeah, Kara?”

“I want to kiss you again.”

“Oh gods.  Me, too.”  He strode back over and their lips met halfway, mouths already open to each other.  “Mmm.”

“Mmm-hmm.”  Her arms were clinging, one around his shoulder, the other around his waist.  Kara was beginning to wish desperately that they weren’t in the middle of a frakking parking lot, but she knew she wasn’t ready to sleep with him yet.  Her body was more than ready, but the time wasn’t right.   _We haven’t even been on a date yet.  Not a real one_.  She loosened her arms and took a step back.  “Okay.  We really have to stop and go to our separate corners.  Maybe you can call me later.

Lee nodded and stepped away, too.  “I can do that.  I will do that.”  He got an adorable wrinkle between his brows and asked, “What time?”

“Before nine.  I have to be at work early tomorrow.  I leave early on Tuesdays.”  She gave him that dazzling smile again and said, "Thanks for asking."

He smiled at her, one of those smiles that made her bones melt, and she just about threw all caution to the winds and asked him to follow her home, but she managed to restrain herself.  She swiped her sweaty hand across her skirt surreptitiously and got in her car.  When she looked again, he was getting into his.  

~*~

Zak watched Lee as he walked in the door, the most ridiculous smile on his face, and almost didn’t say anything.   _Nah.  I’m the little brother.  I’m supposed to be a pain in the ass_.  “So.  I guess you owe me twenty cubits.”  It was always extra amusing to watch Lee blush.

“I’m going to my room.”

“You don’t want a detailed analysis of your coffee date, Lee?”

“This time, Zak, I think I did okay without your help.  And hey, send her some more flowers.  But let someone else deliver them this time.”

Zak’s laughter trailed him into his room.  He sat on the bed and got his phone out.  Kara had given him her cell phone number.  And her home number.  And her birthday.   _Good call about the phone number, bro.  I managed the rest without your help, though._


	4. Talking To the Boss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill comes back to work.

Kara walked in, arms full of folders and notepads, and sat down at Bill’s conference table.  She spread everything out according to subject or client or whatever way made sense to her.  He never paid attention - he just knew if he needed something, she knew where it was.   _Hell, while I was gone, she did all my work_.  They made their way steadily through the piles, Kara making notes on things that hadn’t been resolved yet, and all the while she was smiling.

“Okay, Kara.  What’s up?  You’ve been smiling all morning.  I know you’re happy to see me back at work, but this is ridiculous.”

At first she didn’t look at him, but when he made her stop everything she was doing, she looked up, then down, then pushed her chair back away from him.  ‘I met a guy.”

“Yeah?”  He hoped his voice was neutral, but he knew immediately that his face had betrayed him.

“What was that?” she asked.  “And don’t try to tell me it was nothing, boss.  For just a split second, you looked upset.”

“Kara, it really is nothing.  I just always thought you and Lee would hit it off.  You know that.”

“Hmm.  Well, hard to hit it off with a guy I’ve never met.  Were you planning to introduce us on your deathbed?”  She shook her head at the grin he tossed her.  “Anyway, I met this guy at a party at Kendra’s.  He’s got the best smile.”  She sat back for a minute, thinking about that smile and what it did to her insides.

Even if it wasn’t his son, he was glad to see that softness on her face.  He’d worried that she would take past experiences too much to heart and not let herself fall in love again.

They made more progress, nearly to the bottom of the pile, when the door opened behind them and a voice said, “Dad!  I know it’s your first day back at work and you’ve got a slavedriver for an admin, but -”

They both turned.  Kara and Zak stared at each other.  Kara recovered first.  “Slavedriver, boss?  What the hell have you been telling people about me?”  She smacked him in the arm.

“Zak, meet Kara, my slavedriver.  Kara, this is Zak.  My younger son.”

Kara got up and both Bill and Zak thought she was going to shake Zak’s hand, but she got closer, walked around him, then asked in a quiet voice, “Would you please explain to me why you brought me flowers last week and didn’t tell me who you were?  Does Lee know where I work?”

Bill burst out, “Zak brought you flowers?  This is the guy you met?”

“No.  I promise.  Lee doesn’t know anything.  When he started talking about Kara, I just had a feeling.  Dad talks about you.”

Kara turned to Bill.  “I did meet your son, but not this one.  At least not formally.  And I’m still waiting for the explanation on the flowers.”

Bill sighed.  “She’s tenacious, son.  Whatever it is, you’d better just tell her.”

“Well, like I said, Dad’s talked about you - going to your games, scouting stuff, your college graduation - and I kinda felt like you were a big sister that I hadn’t met, and I knew you worked here.  When Lee came home the other day, all excited about his coffee date with the “Kara” he’d met at Kendra’s party, I wondered if it was you.  I knew Lee would never think to send you flowers, so I did it for him.  And then I wanted to at least see what you looked like, so I charmed the delivery girl into letting me bring them to you.“  He shrugged his shoulders.

“And the emails afterward?”

Zak looked embarrassed.  “Yeah.  Lee was out of the office, so I, uh, -”

“Never mind.  At least I know the guy I actually went out with is the one I like.”  She turned away then turned right back, “Unless you had him wired for sound somehow and you were feeding him his lines?”

“No!  I promise.  Whatever weird stuff he talks about at the coffee shop, that’s all on him.”  

Kara smiled for the first time.  “I like the weird stuff he talks about.”  She held out her hand.  “Nice to meet you, Zak Adama.”  When he took her hand, she added, “We’re going to have to talk about boundaries here, little brother.”

Zak snickered.  “Now I know you’re perfect for each other.  That sounded just like Lee.”

Kara turned to Bill, who’d been following the whole exchange avidly, though it was clear he was still confused.  ‘All right, boss.  How about you take your son and your slavedriver to lunch, and you ask whatever questions you obviously still have?”

~*~

Bill watched Zak and Kara at lunch.  As perfect as he’d thought Lee and Kara would be for each other, he’d never considered how Zak would fit into the equation.  Clearly, they were brother and sister in every way but blood - poking at each other, stealing food from each other’s plates, Kara teasing Zak about flirting with the waitress, kicking each other under the table - and he wondered if maybe he should have made an effort to introduce his boys to Kara when they were all kids.   _No.  Zak maybe, but Lee made it clear that he wasn’t going to like this “Kara” I talked about so much.  I need to talk to Kara about that, because he’s going to have issues with the fact that she didn’t tell him._

He paid the bill, then walked behind them and laughed to himself as they walk-wrestled to the car.   _Maybe Zak’ll be good for Kara, too - she gets so serious sometimes._

~*~

Around four, Bill came into Kara’s office and told her he was getting ready to leave for the day.  

“Okay, boss.”

“Listen, Kara, I want you to close all your stuff out and come with me.  I’ll take you to dinner.  We need to talk.”

Kara looked up, eyes wide.  “I do something wrong, boss?”

“Nothing, Kara.  Now come on.”

She shut everything down, grabbed a legal pad, a couple of extra pens and her purse.  “Ready.”

“You ride the train to work today?”  She nodded.  “When we’re done with dinner, I’ll drop you at home.”

After they got sat down and had ordered, Kara looked at Bill sternly.  “Are burgers on your diet, Old Man?  I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be cutting back on red meat.”

“I am, but I haven’t had any in two weeks, so get your nose outta my plate, girlie.”  He kicked her lightly under the table.  “How’s the Pyramid team at the high school?”

“They’re on a winning streak this year!  The new coach is working out great, and doesn’t mind when I show up for practice sometimes on the weekends.”

“Nice.  Lets you keep your game up, and pass on what you learned to the next generation.”

“Ugh.  Don’t say it that way,  No!  Makes me feel old!”  She shot him a grin.

“You can’t possibly feel as old as I do sometimes.”  He looked uncomfortable for a moment.  “How about the alumni committee?  What’ve they got planned for homecoming this year?”

She perked up.  “Oh!  I haven’t had a chance to tell you about that!  This is the twentieth anniversary of the new building, so they’re putting together a little intermission thing with all the homecoming queens and kings, former team captains, whoever they can find, and the cheerleaders.”  She looked a little smug.  “The ones that still fit into their uniforms, anyway.”

“Which naturally includes you.”

“Damn right it does!  I think that thing actually fits me better now than it did then.”  

Bill smiled at her, amused.  “I’m sure it does, Kara.  Do you remember that first year you were on cheer?”

“Gods, I was such a pain in the ass.  I missed playing Pyramid so much, and I took it out on everybody.”

“Yeah, I thought you’d finally hit that teenage rebellion thing all the parenting books talked about.”

She gave him a sharp look.  “You read parenting books?  For me?”  She cocked her head.

“Yeah.  I’d already frakked up my own boys.  There was no way I was going to frak you up, too.  And I couldn’t leave it all up to Ben.  He was doing his best, but he’d had to grow up fast when your mom died.”

“Hmm.  Well, you did okay, Old Man.”  She reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezed it.  “I hated the uniform at first.  Tomboy Kara wearing a skirt.  So uncomfortable!  And I didn’t get why all of a sudden guys I’d never even met were being so friendly.  Thank gods for Karl!”

“Isn’t he the one who talked you into it in the first place?”

“Yeah.  When I could start running again, I bitched constantly about how I missed Pyramid and wasn’t going to be able to stay in shape.  He kept talking about cheer and I kept giving him a hard time.  Finally he challenged me.  ‘Come to a practice and participate, then tell me cheer was a waste of your time.’  Frak, I was so sore that day.  It wasn’t as hard on my knee as Pyramid, but gods it was a workout.”

“I’m glad it worked out for you.  I have to admit, I worried about what Ben and I were going to do if we couldn’t find some way to redirect all that energy.”  He grinned at her.  “Thank gods for Karl!”

Kara smiled.  “Yeah.  He’s been a really good friend.”

“Hey, before I forget to ask again, how’s Ben?”

Kara sat up straight.  “He seems good.  Last couple of times we talked, he was a little beat up, but his spirits are good.”  She moved her drink so the waitress could put down her plate.  “And….he says he might be able to be home in time for homecoming!”

“That’s fantastic, Kara!  I know you’d love to have him home again.  Have you told him about Lee yet?”

“Frak no, Old Man!  He’s going to find out somehow - he always does - but it’s new.  We haven’t even really been on a date yet, just met for the first time at Kendra’s party and gone for coffee twice.  I want to get to know him better before I think about anybody else, especially telling my brother about him.”  She smirked at him.  “And now that I’ve said that, next Tuesday, Ben’ll probably give me a complete rundown on Lee’s background and any skeletons in his closet.  Anything I should know about?”

“Well, he’s not squeaky clean.  He got into trouble a few times in high school.  But nothing that will raise red flags in Ben’s mind, I don’t think.”

“That’s good.  Ben will feel responsible.  He’s the one who told me to find out who “the guy” was at Kendra’s party.  I didn’t even know his name until I asked her.”  She laughed.  “You should have seen me in your office looking at your pictures, trying to figure out if that guy was the little kid in the photos.”

Bill laughed, too.  “Sorry about that.  I never imagined that me wanting to keep some of my memories intact would lead to my admin not knowing she’d finally met my son.  I bet that was an awkward moment for you.”

“I was so irritated, Old Man.  Here you’d been telling me about him for two or three years, talking about how he’d be perfect for me, and I’d just been shining you on all this time - and don’t pretend you thought I’d ever actually do anything about it - and then when I finally meet him randomly at a party, you were right.”  

She went into a memory for a moment, and Bill watched her face soften.

“He has the best laugh.”

“Really?  I’m afraid I don’t hear it much.”

“He doesn’t laugh much, but when he does…”  Kara got flustered, remembering who she was talking to.

Bill pretended to ignore her flushed face and refusal to meet his eyes.  “Speaking of Lee...does he know who you are?  That you work for me?”

Kara shook her head.  “No.  I don’t talk about that kind of stuff until I’m sure, not when I’ve been wrong before.  You know that.”

“In Lee’s case, you might want to make an exception.  He may have a problem with it.”

“Why?  What are you talking about?”

“I used to tell the boys about the things I did with you when they weren’t around - the scouting trips and the practices and going to your Pyramid games.  It never bothered Zak, but Lee used to hate when I talked about you.  I’m not sure why.  I’m just saying that maybe you should tell him.  If he’s still holding a grudge, only you can decide if he’s worth the work to get him to change his mind.  I really hope that he’s grown out of that resentment, but I don’t want you to get into this and then get hurt if he can’t get past it.”  She opened her mouth and he interrupted, “I still think you’re perfect for each other.  I really do.  I’m just not sure how he’s going to handle knowing he’s falling for the girl he used to say he hated.”

“Wow.  That’s a lot.  Why didn’t you ever tell me any of this before when you were talking him up so much?”

“Because I truly think you’ll be great together.”  He looked down at his burger.  “I didn’t want you to dismiss him out of hand just because he _might_ have a problem with you.”

“Oh, Old Man.  What am I going to do with you?”  She stole a fry off his plate.  “You know what I have to do now, right?”  He shook his head.  “I just have to be irresistible.”  She smirked cheekily at him.  “Worked on you and Zak.”

“Zak wasn’t exactly a hard sell, Kara,” he admonished.  “Not that I was, either, considering I’ve known you pretty much all your life.”

“We’re not telling Ben this part.”  She gave him that “slavedriver” look she’d perfected at the office.

“I thought you weren’t telling Ben at all right now.”

“I said he’d find out anyway, though.  He always does.  I think one of my friends is a Ben-spy.”  She wiped her mouth.  “Finish your burger, Old Man.  I wanna go home.”  She smiled so he’d know she was just tired, not mad.  “It’s hard work having you back in the office.”

They both laughed.


	5. Coming Clean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara tells Lee who she is and Lee is an ass.

Kara watched a mask fall over his face.   _Frak.  Old Man was right.  I should have known better than to let myself fall for him.  But shit, it’s not like he’s been completely honest with me, now is it?_

“I’m sorry.  Did you say that you work for my father?”  Lee’s voice was flat, his face closed to her for perhaps the first time since she’d met him.

“Yes.  I’m the Old Man’s executive assistant.”

“How exactly did you come to work for my father?”  

“I’ve known him nearly all my life.  He helped me get into the school I wanted.  He gave me a reference when I applied at his company.  His secretaries kept running away and getting married, so he asked me if I could fill in for a couple of weeks, and…”  She shrugged.  “we worked so well together that he promoted me and took me out of the shared pool.”

“Known him...Kara….”  Lee’s eyes flashed to her face.  “Wait.  You’re _that_ Kara?  The one I -”  He didn’t finish the sentence, but Kara knew what he meant.  She’d heard a few things from Zak, aside from what Lee wasn’t telling her about the flowers and the emails, and not even counting the "talk" with the Old Man after he found out she'd met Lee.

Still, honesty was best.  She’d already known she wouldn’t survive Lee Adama with her heart intact.  She needed to hang onto her principles, at least.  “Yes.  I’m the Kara you hated every time your father mentioned me.  The one whose Pyramid games he went to, the one he took camping with the Scouts.  I’m _that_ Kara Thrace.”

Lee stood up suddenly.  He looked lost.  “I can’t…”  Tossing his shredded napkin on the table, he left the coffee shop.

Kara watched him go, wondering how she was going to break this to the Old Man.  He was going to be so disappointed.   _At least I got Zak.  I couldn’t have_ ordered _a better little brother_.  She sat there a while longer, fingering the coffee mug, thanking the gods that she hadn’t told Ben anything.  She only talked to him once a week, if that.  She could hide it for the few minutes she was online with him, at least long enough to get over Lee.  Finally, she got her stuff together, dumped their trash, and went out the door.

As she got closer to her car, she noticed a dark figure leaning against it.   _Frak.  I don’t need this right now_.  She slowed her steps, considering going back to the coffee shop when she heard, “Kara?”

_Lee?_  “What are you doing out here, Lee?  I thought you’d left.”

“I tried.  I got in my car and started to drive home and I just couldn’t.  I really, really like you, and I’ve been happier these last few weeks, even just talking to you in a coffee shop once a week, texting, emailing.  I can’t give that up because my fifteen-year-old self was a moron.”

Kara held back her grin.

“Besides.  I haven’t been completely honest with you, either, and me holding my teenage angst against you is pretty hypocritical.”

“Oh?”   _Gods.  Get to it, Lee.  My arms are tired of holding all this crap.  You’re blocking my door.  And maybe I’m a little pissed at you for putting me through this roller coaster unnecessarily._

“After that first night?  Where we had coffee and then went and got burgers over there?”  He turned his head across the parking lot.  “I wasn’t the one who sent you flowers.”

She smiled at him.  “Thanks for telling me, Lee.”

“You’re not mad?”

“I’m kinda pissed that you stomped out of the coffee shop like a child after learning who I was, when all that time I knew you were hiding something like this, but I’m glad you’re telling me.  I was wondering if you would.”

“You were...you already knew?”

She nodded.  “The day your dad came back to work?  Zak showed up to take him to lunch.  Or mooch lunch off of him.  I’m not sure.”  She shook her head in amusement.  “Anyway, I recognized him as the guy who’d delivered the flowers to me, so I made him tell me everything.”

“Frakkin’ Zak.”

“If it weren’t for “frakkin’ Zak” that second coffee might not have happened, so you probably ought to get over it.”

“Point taken.  Did he at least pick good flowers?  He said you liked them, but…”  He shrugged.

“I loved them.  They were bright and pretty and not too much pressure for the day after coffee.  Your brother apparently knows a little something about flowers and girls.”  

“More than I do.  I’ve never sent anyone flowers, and I wouldn’t have thought to do it after coffee.”

“So, Lee.  How long are you gonna make me stand here holding all my stuff before you let me in my car?”

He stood up straight.  “Oh, frak!  I’m sorry.  You want me to help you with anything?”

“I’ll be fine, just get out of the way, please.”  She pressed the button on her key fob and the car doors unlocked.  She deposited her purse and computer bag in the back seat and turned to Lee, shutting the door behind her.  “Thanks.  My arms were getting tired.”

“You should have said something earlier.”  He looked down at his feet.  “I should have noticed earlier.”

“Hey Lee?”

He looked up at her.  

“Can we make up now?”


	6. Meet the Siblings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben meets Zak. Sort of.

Ben’s face flicked up on the TV screen, but no one noticed, so he watched some dark-headed guy tickle his sister until she was giggling helplessly.  “I don’t know who you think you are, but since you’re making my sister laugh, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.”

Kara fell off the couch in surprise, and Zak turned around in total shock.  “What the frak, Kara?”

“Kara.  I wanted you to get a boyfriend, but I was thinking maybe a little older.  Out of high school.”

Kara and Zak both laughed at the same time, “Oh, no!” and “No way, dude!” coming out simultaneously.

“Ben, this is Zak.  He’s Lee’s brother.  Zak, my brother Ben.”

Zak grinned.  “Wow.  I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.  Kara talks about you all the time.  I’m sure Lee’s pretty sick of hearing your name, and he’s probably not looking forward to meeting you, but...”  Zak shrugged.  “He’s got issues.  But don’t worry.  Until you come home, if he hurts her, I’ll beat him to mush for you.”

Ben smile spread over his entire face.  “Yeah?  You love your brother that much?”

“Nah.  I love Kara that much.”  He threw a companionable arm around her shoulders and smacked her loudly on the cheek.  “I could always get another brother somewhere, but there’s only one Kara.”  

Zak looked at Kara with blatant brotherly adoration in his eyes, and Ben couldn’t help but hope that Zak’s brother was equally as besotted with her, only with more romantic intentions.  He was pretty sure that she was waiting for him to be home most of the time before she settled down with anyone, maybe with this Lee guy, though she'd been downplaying whatever was going on between them.  Being deployed so much was the one thing about his job that he hated, because he wanted Kara completely happy, and he knew she was holding part of herself in reserve. He just didn't know why or for what.

Kara was looking disgusted with both of them.  “I don’t need anybody beating anybody up.  If he hurts me, I’ll take care of it myself, thank you both very much.”  She shook her head.  “Wait!  Ben, what are you doing calling me?  It’s Friday!”

Ben smiled.

“Really?”  She flopped down on the couch then popped right back up.  “Really!?”

“I’m on a buddy’s laptop at the Transport Station now.  Should be home by lunch tomorrow.  I’ll have to debrief, but I can get a quick hug before I head for the base.”

Kara hopped up and down and hugged Zak and he just stood there with a bemused grin on his face, letting her use him as a surrogate for her brother.   _Hell, it’s early days yet, but if things go the way I want them to, I’ll_ be _her brother_.  That made him actually smile, and Ben quirked an eyebrow.  Zak mouthed, “I’ll tell you later.” and held up his hand behind Kara’s back and pointed to his ring finger.  Ben crossed his arms across his chest and glared.  Zak just laughed.

“Hey, Kara, babe, they’re calling our flight, so I gotta get on the shuttle.  I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”  Before Kara could answer him, he disappeared.

~~~


	7. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben comes home.

Kara could hardly sleep that night - she was way too excited about seeing Ben the next day, so she conned Zak into staying and playing video games with her.  Zak could never beat Ben’s scores, but he beat her often enough, except in the games involving flying.  There, she seemed to have a sixth sense, and she beat out even Ben regularly.

They took a break at one point to order pizza, and Kara went to make sure Ben’s room was ready - it’d been months since he’d been in it.  “Hey, Zak!  There’s dusters under the kitchen sink.  Will you bring me a couple?”

When he showed up in the doorway, he had put on an apron, and he minced around the room, pretending to dust, until Kara laughed at him.  Then, he actually got to work dusting, still in the apron, without any complaint whatsoever.

_Yeah.  Even if things don’t work out with Lee, I think I’ll keep him.  I really like having a little brother._  She tried to avoid thinking about not working out with Lee, though, because there was just no way she was getting out of that without her heart breaking.   _Maybe it’s time to go on a real date - let him pay for dinner like he always wants to, hold hands, kiss at the door - the whole thing.  If he asks again_.  The thought made her frown, but then Zak did some silly thing and she was giddy over Ben getting home all over again.

~~~

Ben walked in the door and dropped his bags.  Zak was in the kitchen making coffee.  “You know how to make coffee the way Kara likes it?  I’m impressed.”

Zak turned.  “Ben!  You said before lunch, but I don’t think she expected you this early.  I finally put her to bed around four.  She wouldn’t stop cleaning, well, _everything_.”  His smile was openly adoring of Kara’s neurotic cleaning tendencies.

“Hey, before she wakes up and the screaming starts, you wanna explain to me why she likes your brother, but you’re the one that’s here all the time?”  Ben gave his usual severe look, which Zak completely ignored.

“It’s simple.  I love her.  She loves me.  She knows I’m not trying to get into her pants, and she’s - my dad used to talk about her a lot, and I always wanted to meet her - when we did, we just clicked and we’re completely comfortable with each other.  Lee’s nervous - he’s falling for her - hard - and he’s been burned before.  She’s been skittish around him - won’t go out with him on a real date - just the two of them alone, and he doesn’t understand why.  And yeah, she told me, but that’s not the sort of thing you tell a guy you’re interested in dating, you know?”

Ben grunted.  “Huh.  She hardly ever tells people about that.”  He uncrossed his arms.  “Well, then welcome to the family, Zak.  We always wanted a little brother.”  

“I know.  And as the little brother, I can totally do this -”  He took an ice cube out of the freezer and went down the hall.

SCREECH!!!  “Frak you, Zak Adama, you little bastard!”  Ben winced - that hurt his ears from all the way in here.  He heard Zak saying something, then “He’s here?  Ben?”  And his sister was running down the hall, hurling herself at him.  “I forgive you, Zak!”

Ben picked her up and swung her around.  “Gods, I missed you!”

She stood back and looked at every bit of him, like she was making sure he was still all there, running her hands across his shoulders, down his arms.  She reached up and pulled his head down, put her forehead against his mouth.  “I’m so glad you’re home.”

Ben said, “Yeah, I know Kara.  I love you, too.”  He pulled her in tighter and squeezed her while she sniffled into his chest.  

Zak looked frozen in place, clearly unsure what he needed to do.  Ben shook his head.  “She’s always like this when I first get home.  She’ll be okay, I promise.”

~~~

Kara wouldn’t stop talking, trying to get everything she hadn’t told him during their chats into one conversation, until Ben finally said, “Kara, baby.  I’m here.  I’m not leaving the country for a while.  I’ll be back after I’ve debriefed, and I’ll be happy to beat the crap out of you on any video game of your choosing.”

Kara stopped talking and her mouth dropped open.  “Beat me?  Oh, you’re on, Benjamin!  Just for that, I’m not going to make your favorite dinner.”

Ben pretended to look hurt, and she grinned at him.  “Get over it.  I’ll make it tomorrow - I hadn’t gone shopping yet anyway.  But I’m not going easy on you just because you’ve been gone all this time.”

“I never imagined you would.”  He picked up his bag and headed to his room.  “I’ll call you when I’m heading back, okay?”

“You better.  Any grocery requests?”

“Cake.  Ice cream.  Ding-Dongs!!  Hades, Kara, you know what I like.  Just put it all on the list.”  He winked at her and disappeared into his bedroom.

Kara stood watching his closed door until Zak moved up and messed her hair,  “Hey!  You okay?”

She turned into him and started crying.  ‘Oh, gods, Zak.  My brother’s home.”

All Zak could think was, _Thank gods he told me she was like this_.  He steered her toward the couch and petted her hair until she calmed down.

Kara sat up, wiping her face.  “He wasn’t kidding about putting it ALL on the list.  Can you stay long enough for the grocery shopping?  I’ll need help getting it all inside.”

“What’s in it for me?” Zak teased.

“Homemade cookies?” Kara sing-songed.

“I’m free until Monday,” he was quick to offer.  Zak had tasted those cookies.  He wasn’t an idiot.  


	8. Sweet Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben eavesdrops, like big brothers do.

“Hi.”

Ben stopped in the hallway between his bedroom and Kara’s.  Her door was standing open, and since he didn’t hear an answer, he deduced she was on the phone.  The tone of her voice in that single word suggested she was operating a phone sex line, and that was a thought he really didn’t want to dwell on.  She had to be talking to Lee.

“No.  He’s only been home a couple of weeks.  He hasn’t had time to get out much - when would he have time to date?”

_Frak_.  That reminded him.  He needed to talk to Kara about Kendra. _It was time.  Why does he care if I’m dating, though?_

“Can’t.”  A pause.  “Because I’m already dressed for bed.  I’m not getting dressed again right now.”  Another pause.  “No, you can’t come over.  Ben’s home.  Besides, tomorrow’s my early day.  I mean, I leave early on Tuesdays to get home so I can talk to Ben, but even when he’s home, I still go in early and leave early on Tuesdays.”  

Ben listened as Kara giggled, a little breathy.   _Sounds like I need to have another talk with her about Lee.  Does he know who she is yet?_

“Okay.  I’ll miss you, too.  But you’ll call me, right?”  She sighed.  “I’ll see you in two weeks, then.”

Ben heard the sound of Kara rolling in her bed, and he peeked around the corner of her open door.  She was on her side, arms curled into her chest, looking out the window at the moon.  He heard a sniff. _I’ll talk to her tomorrow_.  He padded silently to the kitchen, where he’d been heading before he’d gotten distracted.   _Sounds like Kara’s a lot more serious about this guy than she’s let on to me.  Would she have talked to Bill about him?_  He made plenty of kitchen noises, so Kara would know he was up if she wanted to talk to him.  For some reason, they did most of their serious talking over the butcher block in the kitchen.  He wasn’t entirely surprised when he heard her shuffling down the hallway.  He kept his back turned, just in case she needed a moment to get herself together.  

“Hot chocolate?” he offered.

“Sounds great, Ben.  Do we have the teeny marshmallows?  I don’t think I bought any last time I went shopping.”

He kept stirring the pan.  “I picked some up.  Kinda felt like a hot chocolate day, and I didn’t want to take the chance.”  Making hot chocolate the old-fashioned way was one of those weird things that helped him center, and it was something he and Kara had always done - really good or really bad, they shared feelings over hot chocolate.

“Lee’s going to be gone for two weeks.  He has a continuing education course, then he’s speaking at a law school graduation.”  She took the cup he handed her, and shook marshmallows out all over the butcher block.

He pretended to get irritated at having to clean up the mess, and the grin playing at the edges of her mouth told him she’d done it on purpose.  “You going to miss him?”

“Yeah,” she said.  “It’s been weird.  We talk every day, but we only see each other when we go for coffee, mostly.  I keep waiting for something to happen.  You know, for him to turn out to be a bad guy.”

Ben reached across the counter to tuck her hair behind her ear.  “Baby, I don’t think he’s a bad guy.  He’s Bill’s kid, and Bill would never let you go out with him if he were.  Plus, Zak obviously loves his brother, and Zak is the openest person I’ve ever met.  If there were something in Lee’s life that would be bad for you, we’d know.”  He shook her chin gently.  “Plus, of course, I had him checked out.  He -”

“No.  I don’t want to know what you found.  I want to learn all these things when he’s ready to tell me.  It’s working for us so far.”

“We could have a Triad night or something in three or four weeks.  Invite Kendra, Karl, Zak, maybe a couple others.  And Lee.  Maybe he’d be more relaxed around people instead of one-on-one.  You talked a lot the night you met at Kendra’s party.”

Kara smiled.  “That might be good.  You guys probably need to meet anyway.  Kendra could bring her famous chili.  I could make cornbread.  The guys could bring drinks.”  She looked around the living room.  “We’d have to rearrange a little, get the bigger table out of storage for a little while.”

“If there’s food in it for him, I bet Zak would help me,” Ben laughed.  “He’ll do anything for food.”

She chuckled, “Learned that, have you?”  She walked around the butcher block and leaned against him.  “Thanks, Ben.  You always know, don’t you?”

“Kara, I’ve known you since you were born.  Of course I always know.”  He took her mug and smacked her on the ass.  “Now get out of here and go to bed - you have an early day tomorrow.  Sweet dreams.”  He watched her wander down the hall, head down toward her feet, obviously already making lists in her head.


	9. Movies With the Gang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang gets together for the first time after Ben gets home.
> 
> Thanks to newnumbertwo for the beta!

“Come on, Kara! Aren’t you ready yet?”

“Chill the frak out, Ben. We’ve got an hour before we’re supposed to meet everybody. I had to take a shower after I worked out.”

Ben snorted. “You call that a workout? You’d never last in the military, Kara.”

“Doesn’t matter. It works for me. I can still fit into the clothes I wore in high school.”

He was standing by the front door, foot tapping irritably, when she came down the hall. “Ready, Mr. Impatience.”

“A little dressy for dinner and a movie, isn’t it, Kara?”

She glared at him as she walked past. “No. I want to look nice tonight.”

“Well, at least it all looks like it’ll be hard to take off, my strong preference for my little sister’s clothing choices.”

“Ben! I’m not sleeping with him. Yet. Not that I’m going to tell you when I do, with that attitude. Frakker.”

“Kara, it’s totally okay with me if I go to my grave thinking you’re a virgin.”

“You already know I’m not. Even if I were, how would I ever have kids and make you an uncle?”

“They’d be immaculate conceptions.”

“Right. I can guarantee you that any kids I have will definitely not be conceived immaculately. I plan to have a fantastic love life. Someday.”

“Let’s get the hell out of here.” He grinned and cuffed her on the shoulder.

“Right there with you, Ben.”  
~~~~~~~~~~  
When they got to the movie house, Lee and Zak were the only ones there. Kara smiled at Lee, but with Zak and Ben both watching, didn’t move to kiss him the way she wanted to do. She hooked her arm in Lee’s and turned to Ben. “Ben, this is Lee Adama. Lee, this is my big brother Ben.”

“Good to meet you, Lee. I’ve been hearing all kinds of great things about you from Zak.”

Lee glanced over at Zak with a “you’re dead later” expression, and responded, “I’m sure everything he’s told you is a bald-faced lie.”

Zak broke in. “Hey! I haven’t told him a single lie about you. I may have stretched the truth in some new and creative ways, but I haven’t lied even once.”

“Oh! Kendra’s here!” Kara pointed behind Ben, who turned around and raised his hand in greeting. Kendra smiled back at him.

_Thank gods someone else is here to take his attention away now._ She turned to Lee, dropping his arm to hold his hand instead. “Hi.”

He squeezed her hand. “Hi.”

“I’m glad you guys could make it. It’s the first day we could get most of the group together now that Ben’s home.”

“He’s bigger than I thought he would be.”

“Don’t let him intimidate you. He puts on this big show every time I date someone, but if he really didn’t like you, there would be no doubt. And he likes Zak, so he’s going to like you.”

“Zak isn’t dating you.”

“Relax. I promise he won’t kill you.”

“No. He’ll just maim me and leave me for dead. Kara, I’m dating his sister.”

“He has neither maimed nor killed any of the guys I’ve ever been out with. Unless they deserved it. And you don’t. How’d work go this week?” Thankfully, that was enough to distract him, and he launched into an explanation of his newest case.

Within twenty minutes, everyone was there who’d said they’d be, and they moved en masse to the ticket counter, then to the theater. They were early enough that they could all sit together. Kara and Lee wound up at the very end, with Zak on Kara’s other side. Before the movie had even started, Kara and Zak were tossing popcorn at each other and giggling like prepubescent girls.

“Do I need to give you and Zak a moment alone, Kara?”

She turned to him, her eyes still shining with mirth. “I’m just showing him how much better my aim is than his. You wanna see? Open your mouth.”

He opened it and she tossed a piece of popcorn directly into his mouth. “Not bad. But can you do it again?”

She tossed two more before Zak stole the popcorn from her and told her she had to wait until the movie started to have any more. She grabbed her drink instead, and waited semi-patiently through the previews.  
~~~~~~~~~~  
Much as she’d been looking forward to seeing this movie, Kara could not concentrate with Lee sitting next to her. She made herself pay attention for another few minutes, then she turned her head toward him to make a comment, and he was staring at her, and she knew he’d been having as much trouble keeping his mind on the plot as she had. Their eyes caught and held for a very long moment. Kara felt like she was stuck in quicksand - the good kind. With every second that passed, Lee moved infinitesimally closer to her. The wait was agonizing. His lips touched hers, his mouth slightly open, inviting her to taste him. It was a lazy, glorious kiss that became her entire world for a few minutes. Zak’s elbow in her side was a harsh intrusion. She pulled back, and they smiled at each other, still in their little bubble together.

When they turned forward again, Lee put his hand on hers, lacing their fingers, and his thumb stroked back and forth on the back of her hand, feather-light touches that made her want to forget anyone else was in the theater and straddle him. She was sorely afraid that when they got up at the end of the movie, she’d be leaving a wet spot behind.

When everybody else immediately got up to leave while the credits started rolling, Lee was still sitting there, holding her hand, and she marveled at sharing one more little weird quirk with him. She always stayed through the entirety of the credits, just because she liked looking at the names and guessing where the movie’d been made based on them, or noticing the names of people whose work she’d admired in previous films. She tipped her head into his shoulder and they sat silently, watching the screen until it went black.

He turned his head toward her, and she tilted her head back and closed her eyes, tacitly giving him permission. His kiss was gentle, two fingers on her jaw, stroking softly. It was Kara who reached forward and scrunched the front of his shirt in her fist, opening her mouth to him, pulling him closer. For a few quiet minutes, it was just them, until Lee jerked, and she opened her eyes to see Zak grinning down at them, and Lee rubbing the back of his head.

“They want to clean out this theater for the next show, and they’re too scandalized to come in here with all this going on.”

Kara kissed Lee again quickly, then stood. “Frak off, Zak. If they haven’t seen kissing before, well, they probably shouldn’t be working in a movie house.”

“The two of you could set fire to the place with your ‘just kissing’,” Zak groused.

She looked at Lee again, grin bright on her face, and started to drown again until Zak pushed her. “Nope. None of that. We have to leave, and if you two start looking at each other again, we’ll never leave, and everybody else is hungry.” He pulled at Kara’s arm to make her walk to the end of the aisle, and added, “For food, Kara,” when he saw her start to say something.

“Remind me why I ever wanted a little brother, Zak? I’m really beginning to wonder.” She pretended to frown at him.

Zak threw his arm around her shoulder, tossed a look back at Lee, bemusedly following in their wake, and teased, “You wanted someone to wake you up with ice down your shirt, or beat you at video games.”

“Oh, like you ever beat me!”

Zak pretended not to notice that Lee had caught up with them and that Kara had reached her hand to brush her fingers against his. He herded them into the lobby, where the rest of the group was deep in discussion and laughter. “I managed to find them before they slipped out the back door! Where we eating?”

When everybody turned toward Zak, Kara pinched his side and asked testily, “They were hungry, Zak, or you were hungry?” She laughed at his fake wounded expression, complete with hand over his heart, and smacked his shoulder. “Fine. We’re hungry, too.” She turned to Lee. “We are, aren’t we?”

“Very.” The smile lines around his eyes deepened, and she knew he wasn’t thinking about food, either.

Dinner was an exercise in frustration, because she could either touch Lee or she could eat, but not both. She settled for sitting as close to him as possible and brushing her leg against his under the table. After they’d talked and eaten and laughed and had dessert, she told Ben she was walking Lee to his car and dragged him around the corner to the parking lot. “I really need to kiss you again, Lee.”

He leaned against the car and pulled her in until she was plastered against him from chest to knees. “You feel good.”

“Mmm. Shut up. Please. We don’t have much time. Either your brother or mine will come around the corner any second now.”

He laughed at her, but kissed her anyway, his hands on her neck, his thumbs on the sides of her jaw. She loved the way he kissed her - as if she were something precious. She lost herself for the moment, but soon enough, Zak’s and Ben’s teasing voices were too near to ignore, and Lee was reluctantly pulling away from her. _Soon._ She stepped back, sliding her hand down Lee’s arm to tangle with his hand for a last little moment of connection before they went to their separate homes for the night.  
~~~~~~~~~~  
Just as Lee was turning down the sheets on his bed, his phone beeped at him.

_I love kissing you._

He smiled and typed back - _I’d love it a lot more if we could manage it for more than five minutes uninterrupted._

_I know. Much as I love your brother, and Ben, they are doing their best to keep us from having any quality time._

_Zak’s always been good at that._

_Oh? You trying to tell me you’ve never gotten past kissing, Lee?_

Lee rubbed his forehead, trying to figure out how to answer. _Well, not with Zak around, I haven’t. He’s very effective as a bucket of cold water._

_*snickers* I’ll say. I gotta go to bed, Lee. I have an early pyramid game tomorrow. Need my sleep._

_Okay. I don’t suppose I could come watch?_

_Not tomorrow. You’d be much too distracting._

He grinned to himself. _Call me after?_

_I can do that. G’night, Lee._

He held onto the phone for a few more seconds waiting to see if she’d say anything more, then put it down and went to bed.


	10. Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twentieth Anniversary Homecoming for Dillon's Pyramid team.

Kara had told Zak and Lee that she’d meet them at her school stadium the night of the Homecoming game.  Zak could feel Lee getting antsy beside him, because it was getting closer to start time, and neither one had seen Kara yet.   

When the cheerleaders started tumbling out of the locker room entrance onto the track surrounding the stadium, he decided he’d rather watch them than worry about his cranky brother for a while.  The last three out were two guys and a girl, and Zak thought the guys looked a bit big for high school.  At some unknown cue, the two guys hefted the girl to their shoulders, and the crowd in the stadium roared.   _Okay.  These three are popular_.  The girl stood on the shoulders of the two guys and when the music started over the loudspeakers, they pushed her up into the air and she did some pretty impressive acrobatics on the way back down into one of the guys arms.  Zak was so distracted by the hope that somebody was going to catch her that it wasn’t until she was back on her own feet that he realized it was Kara.  A slow smile spread across his face.

He looked at Lee, who was so focused on looking for Kara in the milling crowd that he was oblivious to the cheerleaders’ antics.  Zak elbowed his brother, pointed and said, “Lee.  Check it out!  You’re dating a cheerleader!”

“What?”  Lee’s head whipped in the direction Zak’s finger was pointing, and when he caught sight of Kara, his eyes widened.  “I’m not dating her,” he denied automatically.

“Please, Lee.  You’ve had coffee.  You’ve had dinner.  She kissed you.  You’ve been to the movies.  You held her hand, even if it was accidental.  You’re at her high school Homecoming game.  You’re dating.”

“It’s not dating.  We’re never alone.  Except that first time.  And whenever we have coffee.”  Lee looked down at his lap.

Zak bumped his brother’s shoulder.  “She’s just trying to be cautious, sensible.  It’ll all work out.”  He caught sight of Kara signaling him.  “Kara’s saying hi, Lee.”

They both turned their attention to Kara, who laughed and blew Lee a kiss.  Zak had to laugh himself when his brother’s face and ears turned red.  It got Lee to smile, though.   _Baby steps.  Gods.  These two_.

~~~

At the end of the game, Lee couldn’t have said what kind of match it had been, or which team had won, except that Kara was flushed and happy.  Of course, he wasn’t sure how much of that was the game, and how much of it was due to the guy, the _cheerleader_ , who had hung all over Kara during the game and the intermission show.  When Kara came into the stands afterward, the guy followed her, and she introduced him as Karl, her high school cheer partner.  

“I’ll be back in a minute, okay?” she told them, and bopped down the stadium steps to apparently give out hugs like they were candy, not that he minded or anything.   _Of course I don’t._

Lee watched her cuff Karl on the arm and kiss him goodbye, and his temper rose.  “Why’d she invite me if she has a boyfriend?”  He didn’t even know he’d asked the question out loud until Zak answered him.

“The closest thing Kara has to a boyfriend is you, Lee.  If you’re talking about Karl, your radar is wonky.  That was not a boyfriend kiss, that was a ‘I’ve known you forever and we’ve seen each other naked since we were six’ kiss.  Were you sick the day they taught Girl Body Language 101, Lee?”  He shook his head.   _Wow.  This is going to be more work than I thought.  I need reinforcements._

~~~

Lee and Zak were standing when Kara came back.  She hopped on the seat in front of them and bent to grab Lee’s hand.  “Karl had a date after the game, so I told him that you would take me home.  Is that okay?”

Lee’s heart skipped a beat.   _Was it okay?  Frak, yeah!  Maybe this night didn’t suck so much after all_.  But then he remembered Zak.  

Zak was already nodding and backing away a bit.  “It’s all good, Lee.  I’ll just get dad to drop me at home.”

Kara protested automatically.  “Zak, it’s okay.  You can ride with us.”  

Lee’s hand squeezed hers and Zak grinned and said, “Uh, no.  Dad can drop me off.  You two take your time.”

They turned back to each other and Kara asked, “Are you sure it’s okay?  You never said.”

“Yes.  It’s fine.  It’s great.  I want to take you home.”   _It’ll be the first time I’m alone with you except at the coffee shop.  Hell, yes, it’s okay_.

“Okay.”  She reached across the space between them and pulled him toward her, then bent her head and kissed him.  As always, he responded heatedly.  He wrapped his arms around her tightly and she curled hers around his neck, putting all her weight on him.  He pulled her off the bench, held her off the ground, and kept kissing her.

Zak looked back just before he got to his dad.   _Yes!  Maybe I won’t need as much help as I thought._

Lee pulled away, breathing hard.  “Much as I’d love to kiss you some more, I’d rather not have the entire high school as an audience.  Maybe we could go now?”  She nodded and pulled an arm around her shoulders, then smiled and kissed his cheek.

“Let’s go.  Hey.  I’m starving.  You wanna stop at the pancake place on the way?”

He stopped walking and turned to her.  “Would that make this a date, Kara Thrace?”

“Maybe.  Is it a stupid first date?  Pyramid game and pancakes?”

“Uhn-uh.  It’s a perfect first date, ‘cause it’s completely you.”

She beamed at him and bumped him with her hip.  “Let’s go on a date then, Lee Adama.” 


	11. Passages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A beloved schoolteacher dies, and Bill meets Laura.

Mrs. Cole had been around the school district for years.  Bill had first met her many years ago at a high school Pyramid game.  That had been before Socrata had died, before he’d become so much more involved in Kara’s and Ben’s lives.  He wasn’t ashamed to be shedding tears at the funeral of a woman who’d been so special in the lives of her students, who’d given so much to the district even after she’d stopped teaching, the woman who’d eventually become his friend.  

He tightened his arm around Kara, and she leaned into his shoulder, her left hand rising with the handkerchief he’d brought for her.  It had been a Solstice gift from Kara a dozen years or more in the past.  Seeing the edging embroidered in the school colors - Kara’s way of personalizing the otherwise potentially boring gift - brought another wave of grief upon him.  

JoAnn Cole deserved every bit of the emotion shivering and stuttering through the crowd today, but he had to admit that some of his was more about the woman standing next to him - and her mother - than the woman they were burying today.  They were standing in the same place relative to the gravesite, and though it was Zak on Kara’s other side instead of Ben, it was far too reminiscent…

_Bill’s hand hurt.  Kara was holding on so tight, determined to be as stoic as her big brother.  Bill glanced over at Ben, who was standing ramrod straight.  Kara’s other hand was holding on just as tightly to Ben, and Bill knew without asking that Ben was using the pain in his hand to compartmentalize the pain in his heart.  That little seven-year-old had a grip of iron in those soft little-girl hands._

_He couldn’t believe Socrata was gone.  He’d just talked to her last week.  Ben’s call had been an unwelcome reminder of the possibility that as a member of the military, he stood a chance of dying every day - a greater chance than the average citizen.  Today, he was thankful that he wasn’t as close to his boys as he’d like.  If something ever happened to him, they wouldn’t be as overcome with grief as Kara and Ben were._

_Kara had been heartbreakingly dry-eyed over the last few days.  He wasn’t sure that she got that her mother was gone, permanently, but then he’d see an expression on her face that told him she knew, all too godsdamn well, that she wouldn’t see her mother again._

_She squeezed his hand a little tighter and his attention was brought back to the here and now.  He watched as the Marine brought the flag from Socrata’s coffin to Ben, who twitched his shoulder subtly toward his sister.  The Marine caught Bill’s eyes, and Bill gave a tiny nod, so the Marine knelt in front of Kara, handing the flag over with the usual words.  Kara’s unquavering answer, “Thank you, sir,” as the Marine stood tall again, was almost enough to break him._

She was still as brave today.  She’d loved Mrs. Cole, and Mrs. Cole had always told him that even though she couldn’t have favorites, Kara was one of hers.  As the priest neared the end of the graveside address, Kara pulled away from his arm and stood up straight.  His hand dropped to his side, and she groped for it blindly.  

\---

Kara couldn’t believe how many people were here today.  She’d known Mrs. Cole was a popular teacher, even long after she’d retired, but she didn’t think she’d really grasped how long Mrs. Cole had taught until she’d stood in the crowd, overwhelmingly sporting little bits of something with the school colors, among people of all ages, some easily forty years older than she was.  

She sniffed and Bill handed her his handkerchief.  She almost laughed at the sight of it - a box of these had been her Solstice gift to him the year she’d turned eleven - but caught herself in time.  How like him to still have these things, and to have thought to bring one for her.  She leaned into his shoulder thinking how grateful she was for the people in her life.  Ben, Bill, Kendra, Karl, now Lee, and especially Zak.  

She knew she was too serious sometimes, that she had fewer friends than many people, and that she didn’t really know how to let loose.  Zak brought out the silly in her.  He made her laugh, and he had no idea he was doing anything special.  The thought crossed her mind that her long ago wishes to meet Bill’s sons and have more brothers had come true after all.  Sort of.  Nothing sisterly about her feelings for Lee, after all.  She covered the inappropriate grin behind the handkerchief.  No one else would understand, but she had a feeling maybe Mrs. Cole would have.

She thought back to the first day she’d stood in this very cemetery, with Bill Adama and Ben holding her hands while they buried her mother.  The crowd had been much smaller than, and consisted mostly of people in uniform, including Bill.  Everyone had seemed larger than life that day, and she’d been determined to be as grown up as any of them, make sure one last time that her mother wasn’t disappointed in her.  She’d known that with Ben on one side and Bill Adama on the other, nothing could get to her.  

Today it was Zak holding her other hand instead of Ben.  More than a few of Dillon’s alumni had gone into the military, and Ben was in the crowd behind her, standing tall and proud in full dress uniform, with his brothers and sisters in arms surrounding him, comforting him in a way she would never be able to.  They paid their respects in their own way to this special woman.  She heard the priest beginning to wind down her address, and stood away from Bill, groping for his hand when it fell beside her.  She spared a moment to feel guilty that she’d thought of nearly everything except Mrs. Cole while she’d been speaking, but then she thought that maybe Mrs. Cole would have wanted it that way.  

\---

Ben stood in formation with his brothers and sisters, all at attention, and he was grateful for the solidarity.  There was too much of this that reminded him of his mother’s funeral, and everything that had preceded it.  

_The officers who had come to notify the family had gone, and he didn’t know what would come next.  He thanked the gods that Kara was asleep, and wouldn’t have to be told until morning, but in the meantime, he’d need help.  He was only seventeen, and if anyone notified the authorities, they’d take Kara away from him.  The teenager in him rebelled at the thought of Kara being alone so soon after losing her mother.  Socrata had never really liked him much, though she’d tried most of the time to hide that fact.  She’d never been particularly demonstrative, even with Kara, and he wouldn’t miss her much, but he’d miss knowing that Kara was safe._

_One name swam to the surface: Bill Adama.  Mr. Adama - or more correctly, Colonel Adama - had been friends with Socrata, as much as anyone ever was, and Ben was pretty sure that he’d always seen through the facade of normality.  He’d been nice to Ben when there was no reason to be.  He looked up the number and picked up the phone._

_“Hello?”_

_“Colonel Adama?”_

_“Yes?  Who is this?”_

_“This is Benjamin Thrace.”  He could tell by the brief silence that Bill Adama had already heard about his mother._

_“I’m sorry to hear about your mother, Ben.  She was a fine officer.”_

_“Thank you, sir.  That’s actually why I’m calling.”_

_“What can I do for you, son?”_

_“I’m going to need help.  We don’t have any other family.  There’s a lot to do, though Family Services might help with some of it….”_

_“Of course they will.  I’ll see to it personally.”_

_“I appreciate that, sir.  But I”m more concerned about Kara.  I’m only seventeen.  Once the authorities get wind of that, they’ll take her away.  We’re all we have, and -”_

_“Say no more, son.  Why don’t I come over right now?  We can get started with phone calls and making some preparations, so that when the questions come, we’ll know exactly what to say.  My father was a lawyer, and I’ve still got friends and family in the legal system.  You guys need each other, now more than ever.  I’ll make sure you get to stay together.”_

_Ben slumped in relief, his sweaty hand slippery on the phone handset.  “That would be great, sir.”_

_“I think, under the circumstances, you should call me Bill.  I’ll be over as soon as I’ve made a few phone calls of my own.”_

_“Thank you, sir.  Uh, Bill.”_

He’d never made a harder phone call in his life, even now, twenty years later.  Bill Adama had come through in ways the young boy he’d been would never have imagined, and he and Kara had never spent a night living apart until he’d gone into the military.  And he never would have done that if he hadn’t known for sure that Bill would be there to take care of his sister until he could do it again himself.  Bill had never failed him.

Bill Adama was family now.  Ben caught sight of Kara straightening her shoulders, Bill’s arm falling away from her, and he thanked the gods that he’d chosen right that night.  Ben put his full attention back on the priest and her final words about JoAnn Cole.

\---

Kara heard the priest’s final words fade away into silence.  She looked at the crowd, caught sight of red hair on the other side of the grave.   _Ms. Roslin.  I need to make sure I say hello to her today.  She and Mrs. Cole were friends, I think._  Just as the silence started to get a little uncomfortable, while the priest was still fumbling through her book to find the right hymn, someone, Kara never saw who, started singing the school song.  Voices raised in harmony and disharmony, breaking with grief and pain, but singing.  The school song faded almost seamlessly into the fight song, and she watched Mrs. Cole’s family smiling through their tears, knowing that Mrs. Cole would have been very pleased with such a sendoff.  She’d loved nothing more than her family and her students.

The notes of the song hung in the air for a moment, then almost automatically, hands raised in the air, “Go! Fight! Win!” and embarrassed laughter rose as people realized what they’d done.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zak watching in amazement.  He’d probably never seen a graveside service stranger than this one.  She laughed softly herself and squeezed his hand.

The priest raised her voice over the clamor of the crowd, reminding everyone that the gathering afterward was at one of the local junior highs, in the cafetorium.  People were already breaking out of the crowd, heading for their cars.  She held her place, holding on to Bill and Zak, knowing that they’d wait as long as she wanted.

After a few minutes, she turned, dragging Zak along with her.  Bill knew where she was going.  When she got to her mother’s grave, Ben was already standing there.  She let go of Bill and Zak and walked into Ben’s arms, holding on tight.  When she let go, she stepped back, looking up at Ben.  “We’ve got a good life, Benjamin Thrace.”

“Yeah, we do, baby girl.”  He laughed when she wrinkled her nose at him.  

\---

When they got to the school, Kara spent a few minutes showing Zak around.  The school had changed a lot since she’d gone here, but some things were still the same.  She dropped Zak off at the refreshment table and hauled Bill with her when she caught sight of Ms. Roslin across the room.  “There’s someone I want you to meet.”

As they approached, Bill held back, saying “Kara,” under his breath, but she was undeterred.

She tapped Laura on the shoulder and Laura turned.  “Kara Thrace!  How are you?”

Kara smiled, saying, “I’m pretty good.”

“I saw you at the homecoming game.  I was going to find you and tell you how much I enjoyed the halftime performance, but you were otherwise occupied when I got there.”

Kara blushed, knowing that after the game, she’d been all but hanging all over Lee.   To fend off the questions she could see in Bill’s eyes, she introduced them.  “Laura Roslin, this is Bill Adama.  Laura was my history teacher freshman year.  Bill’s my boss,” she glanced up at him, “and probably the closest thing to a father I’ve ever had.”

She watched at they exchanged greetings.  Laura had never been married, as far as Kara knew, and Bill had been divorced as long as she’d known him.  “Hey, Old Man, maybe you could invite Laura to your book club.”

Laura exclaimed, “Kara!  That’s uncalled for.”  When Kara looked at her, puzzled, Laura clarified, “He’s not that old.  I hope you don’t call me Old Woman when you talk about me.”

Kara and Bill both laughed, and Kara answered, “I definitely don’t call you Old Woman.  It’s just my nickname for him.  I think I overheard some of his subordinates call him that at some kind of thing at his house when I was younger.  It kinda stuck.  I don’t call him that at work, of course.”  She smiled up at Bill as he put his arm around her shoulders.  “He helped Ben take care of me after my mom died.”

“Oh!  Of course.  I remember Kara talking about you sometimes, though I don’t think she ever mentioned your name.”  She turned to Kara.  “Have you spoken with Mrs. Cole’s family yet?”

Kara shook her head.

“Why don’t we go over together?  Looks like the crowd has thinned out a little.”  She looked at Bill.  “You’ll be fine on your own for a little while?”

“Of course.  My son’s here, and I know more than a few of Kara’s other teachers, so I can make the rounds.”

“Good. Kara?”  She took Kara’s hand as they walked across the room.  “So, are you seeing anyone?”  She eyed the color rising in Kara’s face again, and raised her eyebrows.  “Oh?  What does he do?”

“He’s a lawyer.  Bill’s other son, Lee.”

“So you met him through Bill?”

“Actually, no.  I met him at one of Kendra’s parties, of all things.  I don’t know how they know each other, didn't even know who he was until a day later.  We talked for a long time.  That’s kinda what we do - talk.”

“Talk.  Uh-huh,” was Laura’s skeptical reply.

“No, really!  We meet for coffee about once a week, and we talk for hours about everything.  He’s so interesting, even when he’s wrong.”  Kara’s face lit up, and Laura laughed.  “He’s nice to me.  And gods, I love kissing him.”

“TMI, Kara!”  But she was giggling as she said it.  Kara almost didn’t hear her murmured, “Wonder if that’s genetic?”

She couldn’t help but tease Laura.  “There’s only one way to find out.  I know where his book club meets.  He might be too shy to invite you.  He hasn’t ever dated much that I know of.”

“Kara!  Are you matchmaking?”

“Mmmmaybe.”

“Well, he is quite handsome.  Good handshake.  Might be good for other things.”

“I am going to pretend I didn’t hear that.  Talk about TMI.”  

They shared smiles.  Kara was glad Dillon was small enough that she could be friends with many of her former teachers now that she was an adult, though she’d never had a conversation quite like this with any of them.  Laura had always been her favorite, after Mrs. Cole.  Which reminded her…

She and Laura stopped in front of Mrs. Cole’s family.  “Laura Roslin, History, and Kara Thrace, former student.”

Kara was really surprised when one of the sons said, “Kara!  My mother used to talk about you.  She always said you had the most infectious smile.”

Laura nodded and said, “True.  Kara’s smile can light up the darkest room.”

One of Mrs. Cole’s daughters shook Kara’s hand, saying, “So glad you stopped by.  Mom did used to talk about you.  It’s good to finally put a face with the name.”

Kara was flummoxed, so she fell back on the tried and true.  “Good to meet you.  Your mom was really good to me after my mom died.  I’ve always been kind of afraid that I made her life difficult that first year.”

“Oh, no.  Not at all.  She didn’t talk about too many of her students, and she truly enjoyed the ones she did mention.  You were special to her.”

Kara blushed again.  “She was special to me, too.”

The daughter reached forward and hugged Kara.  “I’m glad she made a difference in your life.  She was a great mom.”

“I bet she was.”

Laura had been chatting with several of the other family members during this exchange, and she put an arm around Kara’s shoulder, saying, “We need to move along.  The sooner you’re done greeting people, the sooner you can go home and relax, celebrate your mother in peace.”

“Thank you.  It’s nice to be here, too, though.  So many people who loved my mom like we did.  It’s really wonderful to see.  But I will definitely be glad to get home and take off my shoes,”  She looked around to be sure no one was listening, “and my bra.”  

Kara and Laura said in unison, “I hear you!”  They moved away, letting those behind them step in to greet the family.  

“We should find your - Bill. The sooner people start leaving, the sooner the family can get out of here.”

They caught sight of Bill, who’d found Zak surrounded by girls, and as they approached, Kara noticed Zak pocketing at least three slips of paper.  Zak was such a hound.  A nice one, but gods, he loved girls.  

Laura must have noticed as well.  “I can see the family resemblance.  Is Lee as slick with the ladies?”  They stopped walking.

Kara shook her head.  “He’s really not.  He’s hard to get to know.  Pretty serious.  About everything.  Zak just sort of takes everything in stride.  He doesn’t get all bent out of shape over much of anything.  I’ve loved having him around since I met Lee.”

“You sure you’re in love with the right brother?” Laura asked.

“I’m sure.  Wait.  I never...I’m not...in love with Lee.  Well, frak.”

Laura just nodded her head.  “Sometimes it sneaks up on us, Kara.  You didn’t know?”

“Do most women talk about this sort of thing with their history teachers, Laura?”

“Probably not.  But I’d like to see you happy, and you practically glow when you talk about him.  So?”

Kara shrugged.  “I know I like him a lot.  I know I love kissing him, talking on the phone with him, having coffee with him.  He came to the homecoming game and I know he hated it, but he pretended he didn’t.  He took me out for pancakes after.  Blueberry.  Called it our first date.  Said it was perfect because it was me.  And I’ve never wanted so badly to frak somebody in my entire life.  Is that love?”

“Sounds pretty close to me.  He’s not pressuring you?”

Kara shook her head.  “He seems as shy about the next step as I am.  And we’ve only been on a couple of dates without other people around.  We’ve been taking it really slowly.  I’ve been nervous about making another mistake.”

“Those weren’t your mistakes, Kara.  You know that.  If he likes you enough to wait for you to be ready, I say snatch him up now.  Be happy, Kara.  Don’t wait for someday.”

They started walking again.  Bill noticed them and got Zak’s attention.  He disentangled himself from the girls and they made their way over to Laura and Kara.  Kara took Zak’s arm and they ambled back through the school to the parking lot.  When they got to the car, she stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek.  “Thanks, little brother.”  Zak beamed at her.  Yeah.  It was time to let go of the past and tell Lee how she felt.  She couldn’t wait forever.  She had Zak.  And Ben was home.  If she was wrong, and it went sideways, he’d be there to catch her, like always.  But it wouldn’t.  Lee was different.  She’d known from the start, even if she hadn’t wanted to admit it to herself.


	12. Under the Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara takes Lee to her favorite peaceful spot.

When Kara had shown up for their date on a motorcycle, Lee had frowned and tried to convince her to take his car instead.  She’d insisted, though, holding out an extra helmet for him.  So he’d climbed on behind her, trying to keep some space between them, but she’d looked over her shoulder at him and said, “Lee, you’re gonna want to get closer.  And hold on.”

He’d scooted forward some more until it would have been obscene if they’d been naked.  She started up the bike again, and at first the noise had been disconcerting.  But then, Kara’s voice stroked his ear.  “You good back there, Lee?”

“Yeah, I think...uh, yeah,” he stuttered.

She took off slowly, meandering through the residential neighborhood, then opening up the throttle when she hit the highway.  After about twenty minutes, the constant pressure of his body on hers combined with the low, rumbling vibration had him sporting a rather uncomfortable erection.  

He groaned.  Getting off this bike when they got wherever they were going was going to be really embarrassing.

“Everything okay, Lee?”

“Terrific,” he answered.

She turned off the highway and took them through a series of side roads, ending up next to a small lake.  After maneuvering them to a spot near a cluster of trees, she parked, put down the kickstand, and turned the bike off.  For a few seconds, the silence was deafening.  He pulled his helmet off, and watched as Kara did the same.  Her blonde hair fell in careless waves down her back as she reached forward and hung the helmet off one of the handlebars.  She asked for his helmet and hung his up there, too.  Then she swung her leg over so she was sitting sideways on the seat.  “Was that your first motorcycle ride, Lee?” She took off her jacket and hung it over the helmet.

“Yeah.”

She swung the other leg over the seat so she was facing him and leaned in, putting her arms around his neck.  “How was it?”

There was no good way to answer that in his current state, so he opted for redirecting her attention.  “This is a pretty little lake.  I’m surprised there aren’t more people here on such a nice night.”

“It’s private property, Lee.  We have the place to ourselves.  I brought a picnic.  Unless you’d rather go back to town and get dinner.”  She looked disappointed.  “I was hoping you’d like it out here.”

“I do!  This is great, Kara.”  Having her sitting with her legs spread and draped over his was not doing a godsdamned thing for his comfort.  He’d waited longer to have sex when he was seeing someone new, but never when it was someone he liked as much as he liked Kara.  Not that he could remember liking anyone else this much, ever.

When he looked up again, he caught an odd expression on her face.  She bit her lip as she looked out over the lake.  With a flash of insight, he realized that she was as nervous as he was, for some reason.  He took off his own jacket and swung it around her shoulders, then put his arms around her and hugged her to him.  She relaxed into his body with a sigh.  His thumbs rubbed tiny ovals over the back of her tee shirt, and she tensed up again.  He decided it would be up to him to save this date.  “What’d you bring for dinner?”

“Fruit, cheese, some wine.  We can eat it all with our fingers.”

“Good choices.”

“I even brought wet wipes.”

“So practical,” he laughed.  “Are you hungry?”

She shook her head against his chest.  “Not really.”

“Good.”  He pulled her in tighter with one hand at the same time the other hand moved to the back of her neck, tilting her face up to his.  He kissed her lightly at first, but she groaned and opened her mouth under his. He’d have to be very careful, or he’d end up misreading her signals.  He didn’t want to push her into something she wasn’t ready for.  He kissed her harder and deeper, her arms winding tighter around his back.  He paused long enough to kiss a trail up her jaw to her ear.  “Gods, Kara.  I want you so badly.”  She stiffened in his arms, and he tried to save it.  “I don’t...I”m not - I’m not pushing you.  I can wait until you’re ready.”

She smiled up at him.  “I know.  It’s not that.  I want you, too.  You have no idea how much.  It’s just...there’s some stuff I should tell you first.  Then you can decide what you want.”

“I doubt there’s anything you could possibly say that would change my mind.  Never mind.  I’m listening.”

“Before I say anything else, I want you to know that I’m in love with you.”  Lee was so stunned by the bald pronouncement that he almost didn’t hear anything else.  “I’m ready for this to get serious, if that’s what you want.”  He sat there, mouth hanging open, feeling like an idiot.  She must have seen something in his face, though, because she nodded and kept going.

“My best friend in high school was a guy.  You’ve met him - Karl from homecoming?  I’ll admit that between your dad and Ben and Karl, I was pretty sheltered, and I thought all guys were as nice as the three of them were.  The first guy I dated wasn’t.  He waited until I got comfortable with him, and he started hitting me.  The first couple of times, I thought it was an accident, but the last time, I knew that he meant to hit me.  I didn’t really know what to do, but Karl saw the bruises in the locker room, and he went with me to the office and made me call Ben.  Ben went ballistic.  We filed charges against the guy, and he pled out before it went to trial.  He waited for me to get comfortable again and he started stalking me.  It got so bad that Ben and I switched rooms because the guy tried to get in through my window more than once.”  

She paused, waiting to see if he’d say anything.  Lee was still processing the idea that Kara had been abused and stalked while she was still in high school, and so said nothing.  When he realized Kara was waiting for some response from him, he noddedand pulled the edges of his jacket closer around her.  

“I didn’t date again in high school.  I spent a lot of time with Karl and the other cheerleaders.  Karl tried to convince me that all guys weren’t like that, but I wasn’t interested in trying again.  When I went away to college, I didn’t have any of the support system I had here, and the first guy I dated was another creep.  He never hit me, but after we’d been out a few times, he wanted to have sex, and I wasn’t ready.   One night, he didn’t take no for an answer.  Thankfully, my roommate walked in the door at exactly the right moment, and her rugby-player boyfriend tossed him out.  I filed a report with the campus police and never heard from him again.  It was my senior year before I tried to go out with anybody again.  I dated on and off that year, and most of them were nice guys.  Boring - but I felt like boring was better than the alternative, you know?”

Lee nodded again, feeling sick to his stomach.  

“Then I got another stalker.  I never found out who he was, because I graduated and moved back to Dillon.  The Old Man was here, Ben was home on and off.  Karl was back.  I had my safety net again.  For a while, we had a three-bedroom apartment, so that when Ben was deployed, Karl was always there.  Then Ben and I moved to the place we have now.  It’s a popular complex for military and police, so I feel safe living there, and Ben feels okay leaving me alone when he’s deployed.  Anyway, I’ve dated some since I’ve been back, enough to know that there are plenty of nice guys - that my experiences were just colossal bad luck.”  She paused, looked out over the lake, then back at him.  “Then there’s you.”

Lee still didn’t know what to say.  “Kara,” he started, but didn’t know how to continue.

“I understand if it’s too much pressure for you.  I don’t know what I’d do if I were in your shoes.”

His tongue unlocked.  “I’m in love with you, too,” he blurted out.

“Are you sure?”  She tilted her head in question.

“I’m sure.  Can I kiss you again now?”

She nodded.  “But first - you know what is my absolutely favorite thing about this lake, Lee?”

“No.”

She leaned in, put her arms around his neck and pulled herself up tighter against him, and whispered in his ear, “Nobody’s brother lives here.”

_Oh_.  “Just so I don’t end up as a story you tell some other guy, are you saying that you -”

Her smile was a new one, one he’d never seen before.  “Yes, Lee.  I want to frak you tonight.  And I’m very, very sure.”

_Oh, thank gods._

“Maybe there’s one more thing I should tell you.”

“Okay.”  He held her carefully.

She gave him that new smile again, then said, “Riding my motorcycle gets me hot.”

With as clear a green light as he’d ever gotten from any woman, he swooped in, stopping just before his lips touched hers.  “Are you sure you’re not hungry?  Because it’ll be a couple of hours.”

“It’s in a cooler pouch.  Now, will you shut up and kiss me already?”

\---

Kara hadn’t been kidding when she’d told Lee that riding her bike got her hot.  It hadn’t helped any that for the last fifteen miles, she’d been able to feel his erection against her ass.  It had been almost more than she could handle to keep from jumping him the second she stopped, excruciating to take the time to tell him why she’d been so skittish about some things.  Gods, she wanted him.  Had since coffee that first night.  Well, tonight, unless she’d scared him off, she was going to have him.

She watched his lips come toward hers, and then he stopped.  “Are you sure you’re not hungry?  Because it’ll be a couple of hours.”

_A couple of hours?_  Just the idea of it lasting that long had her readier than she’d ever been.  “It’s in a cooler pouch.  Now, will you shut up and kiss me already?”

He closed the miniscule distance and sipped at her mouth.  It seemed like he was determined to tease her until she lost her sanity.  The thought raced across her mind that maybe he was trying to pay her back for making him wait all this time.   _It’ll be the most delicious torture._  She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and let him set the pace.  His jacket fell away unnoticed.

He deepened the kiss, little by little, until their tongues were making love to each other.  Her skin was so sensitive.  Everywhere his hands touched burned her, made her heart race.  Just about the time she thought her lungs might burst from lack of oxygen, his mouth moved away from hers, blazing a trail up her jaw.  His lips found that spot right at the joint of her jaw, and he nipped at it.  She wasn’t sure what that sound was - with anybody else it would have been embarrassing, but she felt Lee’s lips smile against her skin when she did it again.  

“Like that, do you?”

“Lee,” was all she could say.

His fingers, those marvelous fingers, tip-toed their way up her sides, one hand combing absently through her hair _Gods, that feels good!_ and the other teasing back and forth on the skin between her shirt and the waist of her jeans.   _Lee, I need your hands on me…._

As if he heard her, both his hands were at the bottom of her shirt, pushing under, his palms against her back, making her feel safe at the same time he was setting her on fire.   _How is he doing that?_  She only knew he’d unhooked her bra when his fingertips were gently massaging the skin of her upper back.  It inspired her to let go of him just enough that she could get her hands under his shirt.  

He jumped at the first contact of her fingers on his skin, then groaned.  “Gods, Kara.”  He kissed her again, lips soft and full on hers, a near-constant low grumble in his throat, inciting a quiver in her belly.  His teeth were on her earlobe, making her squirm, then he said, “So, my practical Kara Thrace, did you bring a blanket?”

_His._  That had never made her feel so...warm and tingly before.  “Two.”

He pulled back a little to look at her, “Two?”

It took a minute or two for her to register that he wasn’t kissing her anymore, than another few seconds for her mind to catch up to his words.  She ducked her head and shrugged.  “I didn’t know if you’d want to do this.  And if you did, I didn’t know if you’d be comfortable being naked with nothing but the moon and stars on your ass.”

“I think we’ve settled the question of whether or not I want to do this, and I think I’d be naked on the courthouse steps if that’s what you wanted.”

“Mmm.  That is an appealing image, but I vote that you keep your nudity strictly for my consumption.”

“Seconded.”

They just sat, their eyes locked on each other, for a few minutes, until Kara fake-whined, “You’re not kissing me any more.”

“I”m just - you’re so - gods, Kara, you make me completely lose my tongue.”

She grinned up at him.  “I have an idea where you can find it.”  She waggled her eyebrows at him.

“I should look for it.”

“You should.  Definitely...”  His open mouth caressed her neck, with his tongue flickering out every so often on her pulse points, and the rest came out more like a sigh, “look for it.”

His hands were under her shirt again, his knuckles running up and down her ribs, the tips of his fingers faintly brushing the sides of her breasts on the upstroke.   _I want_ \-  and again it was as if he could read her mind - next time his hands rose, they took her shirt with them.  He pulled back enough to pull it over her head, and dropped it on the seat behind her.  Then her breasts were loose, with her bra barely covering them, and his hands were on her ribs, his thumbs sliding maddeningly back and forth on the underside of her breasts, his mouth still tracing patterns on her neck and her jaw.  “Lee…”

“You’re soft.  And warm.”

“Uh-huh.”  His teeth scraped over the tendon on her neck, and she was back.  “Feels so good.  But please don’t make me explain hickeys to your father on Monday.”

He buried his face in her neck and laughed until she felt tears on her shoulder.  “It wasn’t that funny,” she grumped.

“No.  You don’t understand.  I got the birds and the bees talk from my dad when I was ten, because I’d been in a wrestling match with Zak.  Dad thought the bruise on my neck from Zak’s chokehold looked like a hickey.  Gods, I was horrified at the things he was telling me.  Kissing girls?  On the mouth?  Ugh.  And seeing them naked?  Yuck.”

“I take it you’ve changed your mind since you were ten?”  She played her fingers in the hair on the nape of his neck, gratified by the way his hair stood on end.

“Maybe a little.”  He rubbed his nose outward on her shoulder, pushing her bra strap down her arm, then kissing and nipping at the cup of her arm.  

She reached between them, pushing the strap all the way down but keeping the bra more or less in place.  “Only a little?  Guess you’ll want to be sure not to expose too much skin, then.”

His lips traveled back up to her jaw, placing tiny sucking kisses at the corner of her lips before he spoke.  “Well, I _have_ always been a little bit curious about what girls look like underneath all those clothes….”

“Maybe you should feel your way first.  I don’t want it to be too much of a shock to your system.”

“Maybe we should get out those blankets first.  I’d really rather the shock to my system not be the bike falling on my head.  Or yours.”

She pushed away with her thighs and shoved her bra strap back up.  She held the bra in place while she swung her leg over the bike and dug in the saddlebag for the blankets.  When she had them, she stood there uncomfortably while Lee got off the bike, too.  She didn’t know what the problem was.  She **wanted** this.  

Lee noticed.  He stroked fingers down her cheek.  “Hey.  What’s wrong?  Have you changed your mind?”  When she shook her head, he took the blankets from her, put them on the bike’s seat, and pulled her in against his chest.  “It’s okay if you have, Kara.  I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do.”

She relaxed into him, letting him hold her.  “I don’t know.  Everything was fine a few minutes ago.  I want you.  I do.  I picked this spot and brought finger food especially so we could have a date without either of our brothers, so we could be really alone.” _I’m such a frakkin’ idiot.  I want him so damn much.  What is wrong with me?_

He leaned back on the bike, pulling her in closer.  “Tell you what.  Why don’t we spread out the blanket?  We can lie down and look at the stars.  We can see them much better here than in town, anyway.”

“Lee, you have to be uncomfortable.  I know the ride affected you as much as it did me.”

He put his hand under her chin and lifted her face.  “ _You_ affected me.  You always do.  I can keep waiting.  I wasn’t just trying to get into your pants when I said I was in love with you, Kara.”

Her eyes searched his moonlit face, and all she saw was sincerity.  Her lips trembled.  “You sure, Lee?”

“I’m sure, Kara.”  He reached behind him for the blankets.  “Come on, let’s look at the stars.”

Kara reached up and kissed him chastely.  “Thank you.  For understanding.  Especially since I don’t really get it myself.”

He held out the blankets, and together, they spread one of them out.  As they were lying down, Kara’s bra fell forward.   “Frak.  Sorry.”

“Kara, it’s fine.  Really.  I am a grown man.  You could lie here naked, and we still wouldn’t do anything you don’t ask for.”

Her expression was skeptical for a moment.  “What if I don’t have the courage to say the words?”

“Then you ask me without words.  I’m a smart guy.  I’ll figure it out.”  He pulled her closer, pulled her bra completely off and tossed it onto a corner of the blanket.  He got the other blanket situated as a sort of pillow, and cuddled her into his arms.  “Look.  It’s nearly a full moon.”

She stayed there, her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat and the rumble of his voice talking about the constellations he could see.  When the air got cooler, he pulled the other blanket out from under his head and spread it over her as best he could.  

“You okay with that?”

She nodded. “Lee?  Can you take your shirt off, too?  Is that too much?”

He kissed the top of her head.  “Sit up for a minute.  I’ll get our jackets so we have a pillow again.  Be right back.”  He folded up the jackets, took off his shirt and tossed it on top of her bra, then laid back down, opening his arms to her again.  “Come here.”

“You sure it’s okay?” _Gods, how I want to feel his skin on mine.  When does it go over the line into being a tease?_  

He pulled the blanket up around her shoulders and put his arm around her again, scratching his fingertips up and down her back lightly.

“Feels so good.”

“It does.”  They were both quiet for a minute or two.  “Kara?  You said you were ready for this to get serious, if that’s what I wanted.  How serious?”

“You still want that?  Even though I ruined our first night alone?”

“It’s not ruined, Kara.  I’m out here with you.  That’s enough for me.”

“I still want that if you do.”

“Would it scare you if I told you I want to marry you?”

Her heart started pounding, but she made herself stay put.  “You do?”  Even as she asked, she spelled out Y E S on his stomach.  

“I do.”  He continued more cautiously, “Kara?  Are you saying yes to marrying me, or yes that it scares you?”

She popped up to look at him in shock.  “You could read that?  How?”

He shook his head.  “Doesn’t matter.  It’s silly.”

She put her face down on his shoulder and started giggling.

“Kara?”

She shook her head, tried to calm down.  “We’re ridiculous, you know that?  This is the first time we’ve ever been alone.  Completely and utterly alone.  I brought you out here to frak and then chickened out and still don’t know why, and I’m worried that lying here topless with you is being a cocktease.  And you’re wondering how serious is serious and trying to interpret my body-writing.”

“Does sound ridiculous when you lay it all out like that.”

She lifted her head again, enough to look him in the eyes.  “Do you really want to marry me?”

His smile answered that question, but he said it anyway.  “You drive me crazy, Kara.  A good kind of crazy.  I want you in my life as long as you’ll have me.”

“Okay.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded.  “Of course, you realize you’ll have to talk to my father about it, and the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father is yours.  You want me enough to talk to your dad about marrying me?”  She wasn’t going to tell him that his dad had been trying to get them together for at least three years.

“I might be more afraid to talk to Zak than to my father.  Zak has already had a talk with me, about how if I screw this up, he’s keeping you and not me.”

She snickered.  “Zak is sweet and adorable.”

“Should I be jealous?”

“I can honestly say that I have absolutely no desire to ever see Zak naked.”

“And you want to see me naked?”  The twinkle in his eyes belied the serious tone in his voice.  

“Yep.”

“You have a timeline on fulfilling this desire?”

“Soon.  Very, very soon.”

“Okay.”

They lay there another hour, until it got too cold for both of them, so they reluctantly got dressed and put away the blankets.  She dropped Lee off at his apartment and went home.  

When she let herself into her place, she got into her pajamas and went to Ben’s room, and crawled in with him like she’d done when she was little.

“Kara?” he asked, voice full of sleep.  “Baby, are you okay?”

“He wants to marry me, Ben.”

“Do you want to marry him?”

“Yeah.”

“Then that’s what you’ll get.  We’ll talk about it in the morning.”  He bundled her up tight and kissed her hair.  “Love you, Kara.”

“Love you, too, Ben.”

\---

When Kara woke up, she was back in her own bed.  She smiled at nothing.   _I really do have the best brother._  Her phone chirped at her, and she realized that must have been what woke her up.

_You awake yet?_

_Just now._

_Is it too early to say that I’m still in love with you this morning?  And we forgot to eat last night._

_Frak!  I’ll have to toss the food.  Maybe we can try again with the wine.  It’s never too early to tell me that.  :)_

_Do you have anything planned for today?_

_Gotta talk to Ben about a wedding, apparently._

_Oh?  Lucky guy._

_He is.  Where are we going to live?_

_You feel safe where you are, right?  I can look into getting another apartment there.  That way you can still be near Ben.  Maybe he’ll let Zak have your room._

_Ooh.  That’d be good.  That way, when he’s deployed, there’ll still be somebody here to watch the place.  Besides all the neighbors.  You mean it?_

_Kara, if you’re really going to marry me, I’ll give you anything you want._

_You’re spoiling me, and it’s not even official yet.  When are you going to talk to your dad?_

_Actually…..that’s why I was asking if you had anything planned.  I know it’s not traditional, but I thought we could take my dad out for dinner and talk to him together._

_I’m not sure there’s anything traditional about us.  I was half in love with you before I even knew your name.  Well, with your smile, anyway._

_Really?  That night at Kendra’s?  I almost called her and cancelled.  I’d just finished a really tough case and wanted to go home and do nothing for days._

_I’m glad you didn’t.  We might eventually have met anyway, but I’m glad we met the way we did._

_Let me get with my dad and make sure he’s available tonight.  Does it matter what time?_

_Nope.  Just let me know where and when._

_I’ll pick you up.  I need a few minutes alone with you before I face him._

_I can’t guarantee alone.  Ben will probably be here.  Maybe Zak, too._

_We’ll be alone in the car._

_Deal.  Talk to you later, then, Lee.  xo_

_XO?  Which XO?_

_:giggles:  x o - hugs and kisses_

_OH.  Thank gods.  Then xo to you, too._


	13. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben tells Lee about things in Kara's past.
> 
> Thanks to newnumbertwo for the beta!

“We need to talk.” Ben’s tone was brusque.

“Okay,” Lee said slowly.

“Not like that. Kara told me when she came in this morning. If she’s happy, I’m happy. But if you’re going to marry my sister, there’s stuff you need to know.”

“Kara told me last night.”

“Good. Means she trusts you. But she didn’t tell you all of it - she doesn’t know all of it.”

Lee was instantly alert. “Where?”

“Lunch at Jay’s Deli. In an hour?”

“I’ll be there.” Lee hung up the phone and refilled his coffee cup. When he turned around, Zak was coming into the kitchen. “Zak, you knew about her ex-boyfriend and her stalkers?”

“Yeah. One of the nights I was over there, they had a disturbance outside and she got spooked. Felt like she had to tell me why.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Wasn’t my story to tell, Lee. I spent as much time over there as I could, especially until Ben got back.”

“I don’t know whether to be jealous of what you guys have or be thankful you befriended her.”

“Be glad she had me, Lee. I love her. I’m not going to hurt her and she knows it. It’s been fun getting to know her.”

“I asked her to marry me.”

“Told you you’d ask me to be your Best Man.” He looked at Lee wide-eyed. “She did say yes, didn’t she?”

“How did you know back then what would happen?”

“The look on your face when you came back from Kendra’s party. You’d met The One. Then when I took her the flowers, she had that same look on her face. I knew you were going to fall for each other, hard, if you hadn’t already. I wasn’t sure you weren’t going to frak it up, though. That’s why I gave you a helping hand with the emails and the flowers.”

Lee grunted.

“Well, if you don’t scare her off before the wedding, I’ll finally have a sister,” Zak teased.

“I’m not gonna frak it up, Zak. But if I do, I have you to help me fix it.”  
~~~~~~~~~~  
When Lee got to Jay’s, Ben was already there, digging in to a gigantic sandwich of some kind, with a counter-girl standing by his table flirting with him. Ben smiled up at her, then caught sight of Lee and motioned him over with his head. The girl turned, saw Lee, and went back to the counter. Once he’d placed his order, he headed to Ben’s table.

“I take it you don’t want me to tell Kara?”

“Not yet - once you know all of it, you can use your best judgement. Tell her, or just hang onto it until it seems like she needs to know.”

Lee nodded his agreement, silently considering the consequences of keeping a secret about Kara’s own past from her - how it might impact their relationship if she found out later that he’d known and hadn’t told her. Ben demolished the sandwich before Lee’s order got to the table, and he drained his cup, stood to get a refill, and said, “Be right back.”

When Ben got back, he launched right in. “Okay, you said she’d told you last night. What did she tell you?” Lee recounted his conversation with Kara from the previous night, and Ben nodded. “That’s about what I thought she knew. Okay, well the guy she was talking about that last semester at school, the one she never knew who he was? He followed her here to Dillon. He hung around the apartment we lived in back then, found out she was living with two men, and went a little nuts. A little more nuts, I guess I should say. Luckily, Karl happened to check the mail when the first thing came, and we made sure that Kara didn’t have first look at the mail after that until we found him, and _persuaded_ him he was better off somewhere else - we made sure he understood that I had friends in the police and military all over the place, and that he’d better behave, Kara or no. Once we got rid of him, we moved to the place we are now, and there are at least two dozen friends in that complex that keep an eye on her for me any time I’m gone.”

Lee was still absorbing everything Ben had told him, and said so, then went on, “Not to change the subject, but I told Kara that I would find a place in the complex where you are now, so that after we’re married, she can stay close to you, and still be in a place she feels safe.”

“I appreciate that. Safety’s important to her. Look, Lee, Kara’s strong - stronger than she knows - but she’s also fragile. And maybe I’m a little overprotective, but with the way we grew up, I have a right to be.”

Lee raised a brow and Ben nodded. _Gods. There was more?_

As if he’d heard Lee, Ben continued, “Yeah, there’s more. My mother was not a demonstrative woman, and though she tolerated Kara better for whatever reason, she never really liked either of us. I really have no idea why she had kids at all, except that she believed it would be a sin to have abortions, maybe. She never married either of our fathers - actually, to be honest, I don’t know who either of them are. Anyway, I’ve loved Kara since before she was born, and I’ve always taken care of her, made sure that she escaped the brunt of my mother’s moods. We’re lucky that she didn’t have boyfriends, and that with her specialty, she went TDY several times a year. When she died, she was on one of those trips. Kara was seven. I was seventeen.”

“How did -” Hearing this made him want to find Kara and hug her tight.

“Your dad. I called him as soon as I got the notification, because I didn’t want them taking Kara away from me. She’d never have made it if she’d lost both of us at the same time.”

“In my more sane moments, I did wonder why he suddenly talked so much about this Kara all the time.” Lee shook his head. _Maybe it was a good thing dad was in Kara’s life back then._

“That’s not going to be a problem for you, is it? Knowing that she’s _that_ Kara?”

“No. I’m not that bratty little teenage boy jealous of a girl he’s never met who gets to spend more time with his father than he does.” Lee sat back in the booth. “To be honest, I did have a moment, right after she told me. I left the coffee shop and tried to drive away, I was so mad. Then I realized that I really, really liked this girl, and that if I drove away, she might never give me another chance. I think I scared her when she came out to her car, but she accepted my apology. She was remarkably gracious about the whole thing.”

“Kara’s very cautious about people, but once she loves, she loves hard. My sister’s a handful, Lee.”

Lee smiled. “I know. I like her that way.”

Ben grinned. “Lee?” He waited to Lee to acknowledge him. “If you hurt my sister, they’ll never find your body.”

“Ben, if I ever hurt Kara, _you_ might not find my body, because Zak will have already erased me from existence.”

Ben’s laugh rang through the deli. “I like your brother.”

“He’s all right.” Lee shrugged, but with a grin on his face. “Speaking of Zak, Kara thought that we might swap when the time comes. She moves into the place I get, and Zak moves in with you, so there’s still somebody at your place whenever you’re gone.”

Ben shook his head. “Wow. She’s serious, if she’s thought about all of that. I can’t wait to razz her. Maybe she’s already picked out the dress and the temple.”

“Whatever she wants.”

“I’ve got the wedding covered, Lee.”

“That’s fine, if that’s what you want, but it’s kind of an outdated custom. I’ve got enough, too. And dad would probably put some money down if we asked him.” He frowned. “And honestly, I think Kara might actually tell us all to take a hike and pay for the whole thing herself.”

Ben laughed again. “She really might. I’m just saying she doesn’t have to.”

“Agreed.”

Ben slapped the table lightly. “Okay. Good talk. Anything else you want to ask?”

“Not at the moment. If I think of something, I can call you.”

Ben nodded and got out his phone. “We should exchange numbers, just for future reference. And give me Zak’s while you’re at it.” They each made entries into their phones, and Ben left. Lee sat and looked at the plate in front of him. He didn’t remember the girl bringing it, and frankly, it didn’t look appetizing at the moment. He took it to the counter and asked the girl to box it up. Zak would eat it.  
~~~~~~~~~~  
When Ben came home, Kara pretended like she didn’t know perfectly well where he’d gone. Neither he nor Lee had said anything, but she knew that Ben would be talking to Lee as soon as he’d told her he’d be gone for lunch. She smiled to herself. Ben was the best big brother she could have asked for, but he really was overprotective. She waited for him to bring up the wedding.

“Okay, baby girl, tell me what you want.”

“Did you leave any of Lee for me to marry?”

Ben snorted. “Of course. He won’t disappear mysteriously unless he hurts you. For now, he’s safe.” He looked at her funny. “How’d you know?”

“Please, Ben. How could I not know you were going to ‘have the talk’ with him? I told you this morning I wanted to marry him. Of course you were going to talk to him.”

“Hmph. Fine. Wedding?”

“Soon. The quickest date we can get everybody’s schedules to work.”

Ben frowned at her. “Something you need to tell me, Kara?”

“Gods, Ben, no. I already told you, I’m not frakkin’ him. Yet.”

“Lalalalalalala.” Ben put his hands over his ears, and Kara laughed at him.

As soon as he put his hands down, she added, “But it’s not ‘cause I don’t want to.” She smirked at him.

“Fine. Fast. Why?”

“I want you to be there.”

“Kara, I’ll be there no matter when it is.”

“You say that, Ben, but the truth is, we never know when you’re going to be deployed, for how long, or where you’re going to be. I want to get married while you’re here.”

“Point taken. What else?”

“Most of the rest of it’s details. I can talk to Kendra and Ms. Roslin about that stuff. I think it’s probably better planned without the benefit of a pound of plastique and a forty-cal.”

Ben gaped at her. 

“What? You think just because I don’t know what you do for a living, I don’t know what kind of tools you use to do that job? I’m not an idiot, Ben.”

He pulled her across the couch and hugged her fiercely. “I know, baby girl. I know. You’re smarter than even _you_ think you are.”

She smacked his chest. “I know exactly how smart I am, Ben. I just had good people around me to keep me from using my smarts the wrong way. Now, let me go, you big knucklehead.”

Ben kissed the top of her head and pushed her away. “Okay fine. Girl-talk the rest of it.”

“Right. Oh, one thing!”

He looked at her cautiously. “Yeah?”

“I’m taking a honeymoon, and I’m not giving you the number to the hotel.”

“Frakkin’ brat!”

Kara giggled at him.


	14. Devil's in the Details

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara plans a lot.

With Ben and Zak engrossed in their latest video game competition, Kara sat back and made wedding notes on her tablet. She needed to talk to Laura. And Kendra. And the Old Man. Well, she was going to talk to him tonight, probably, but there were other things she wanted to talk to him about without Lee there. She checked Laura off the list with an email. 

_Laura,_

_I’ve got some stuff I want to talk to you about. Are you free early Tuesday afternoon? Say right after school? I leave early on Tuesdays, so I could be there as soon as school’s over. Or meet you somewhere else, if you’d rather._

_Kara_

Maybe she and Kendra could have a girls night. Dinner, movie or something, lots of giggling. She needed one of those. It had been too long. She got out her phone to send a text message.

_We need a girls night soonest. When? K_

She tapped a finger on her lips. She needed to talk to Karl, too, maybe have Karl and Lee both over for dinner or out somewhere. They needed to get to know each other. Karl was important to her. She made notes about little things she’d need to secure: temple, priest, dress, salon weekend. She added ‘maybe do that with Kendra?’ to that note.

She kept Zak and Ben tuned out, and made her lists until she got a text message from Lee. 

_Dad’s free tonight. Pick you up at six?_

_I’ll be ready. xo_

_*laughs* I’m never going to get used to that._  
~~~~~~~~~~  
Kara waved at the boys and went off to her room. When she was puzzling something out, she spent a lot of time in the shower. She pulled up her _thinking_ playlist on her tablet and started the water. She needed to shave, anyway. She dropped her pjs on the floor and got in, tuning the music to the back of her mind while she turned things over in her head. _I want to marry Lee, and how much I want that is scary. I know that he’s a good guy, but what if I’m wrong? What if there’s some subconscious reason I couldn’t go through with frakking him last night?_ She shook her head. That was ridiculous. She asked the voice in her head, _Would it make you feel any better if I asked Ben to run a deep background on him? Gods._ She didn’t want to start things off that way with Lee. 

She finished one leg, started on the other. _So maybe sometime in the next month, I could be married. Kara Adama. I’d be the boss’ daughter. I’d be a lawyer’s wife. I’d have a husband - a husband I could frak any time I wanted to without someone interrupting us._ She laughed at herself as she went over her legs carefully, feeling for any stray stubble, updating the list in her head while her hands were occupied.  
~~~~~~~~~~  
Thankfully, Ben and Zak were enough into their game that they pretty much ignored her when Lee came to pick her up. She didn’t delude herself that Ben wouldn’t be waiting up when she got home, though.

“Hi.” She smiled at him as she pulled the door shut behind her.

“Hi. You’re ready?”

She nodded and stood on her toes to kiss him. A loud cheer from inside startled her, and she stepped back, a wry grin on her face. “Even without being in the same room, they’re still doing their jobs.”

Lee laughed and tangled his fingers with hers as they walked to the car. “You look gorgeous, Kara.”

“Thank you. I didn’t know where we were going, and I wanted to dress up a little.”

“It’s dad, so it’s not fancy. You can dress up anytime, though. I love the way you walk in a dress.”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh, really?” She teased the words out.

Lee pushed her against the door of the car. “Yes, really.” He kissed her again, then backed off. “We have to get going. I’d rather kiss you, though, just for the record.”

“Maybe after. We can take the scenic route home.”

When they were both in the car, Kara turned as much as she could in the seat and told Lee, “I want to get married soon. As soon as possible. Are you okay with that?”

“I would marry you tomorrow if my father and both our brothers wouldn’t kill us for doing it.”

“Okay. Small. Probably not more than a dozen people. Can you take time off from work for a honeymoon, or do we have to work long weekends around your schedule?”

Lee looked off into the distance as he drove. “Mmm. I could take about a week right now. If we need more than that, we’d have to work it into the calendar.” He glanced at her then back at the road. “Do you want to pick the apartment, Kara? I mean, I would rather you do it. I want you to like the place, feel safe there, and I can be happy anywhere if you’re there. If you can meet me during the week, we can go by the bank and set up a joint account for household stuff?”

“My office has a banker who makes office calls, does everything right there on-site. But I’d rather wait until we have an address to put on the account.”

“Do you want me to put some money into your account then, so you can pay for all the deposits and whatever?”

Kara bristled. She knew she shouldn’t, knew he was just being considerate, but it rubbed her the wrong way. She’d gotten used to it with Ben, how he wanted to always take care of her, but she wanted things with Lee to be different. She didn’t want to fight about it, though. “I have money set aside that I can use for this. I don’t need yours. I want us to be partners, Lee, not me the little woman who doesn’t need to worry about money.”

Lee looked startled. “Of course. I didn’t mean it that way. I don’t think I did, anyway. I just have an account already set aside specifically for moving expenses, that’s all.”

“I have plenty. Ben almost never lets me pay for anything, and your father pays me very well.”

“So we’ll sit down and talk about money. I can do that. And waiting until we have a permanent address for the bank account is a good idea.” He turned into the parking lot of the restaurant and found a space. He turned the car off, picked up her hand, and kissed her knuckles. “C’mon. Let’s go talk to dad.”  
~~~~~~~~~~  
“Hello, Old Man.” Kara grinned at Lee’s obvious astonishment.

“Kara. You look beautiful.” He held out his hand to Lee. “Son. Good to see you.” They shook hands and he gestured toward the table. “They’re just waiting on us to sit down.”

Kara started toward the table and Lee told her he needed to see the maitre’d about something, so she and Bill went on alone. She put her arm around his waist and looked up at him. “I didn’t tell him you’ve been trying to set us up for three years, Old Man, so give us a little pretense of protective father just to make Lee feel better, okay?”

Bill looked down at her mischievous grin and laughed. “I’ll do my best, Kara.”

When Lee got to the table, Bill said, “I’m glad you could make time for me, son. I don’t see you often enough.”

Lee grimaced. “I know, dad. Job keeps me busy, sometimes busier than I’d like. I’ll try to make more of an effort.”

“It wasn’t a complaint, son, just an observation.” He sat back as the waiter took their drink orders, then put his elbows on the table. “So. What did you need to talk to me about?”

Lee squeezed Kara’s hand under the table, and she squeezed back. “Um, Kara and I, we really like each other, and uh -”

Bill grinned, knowing that Kara didn’t want him to rescue Lee yet. “Just spit it out, son.”

“We’re dating.”

Bill raised his brows. “I see.” Kara could tell that he was trying to frown disapprovingly, but it looked ridiculous, and she giggled unexpectedly.

Bill glared at her, and she giggled again. “Sorry, Old Man. You’re a terrible Disapproving Father.”

Lee was looking at them both like they were crazy. “Dad. Kara. What…”

Kara was still trying to stop laughing. “Sorry, Lee. Continue.”

Kara’s laugh was infectious, and Lee shook his head in a vain attempt to keep from getting caught in it. “What the hell are we laughing about?”

“You. Your dad. Us. Everything.” Kara wrinkled her nose at him, and his look changed from affectionate exasperation to just affection. She loved the way he looked at her. She squeezed his hand again and nodded her head toward the Old Man.

“Right. Well, we’re dating and uh…” Lee trailed off again. 

Kara really hoped he was better than this in court. She watched Bill put his hand over his mouth and chin in a thinking pose, but she knew it was more to hide his smile from Lee. She whacked Lee in the leg.

Finally, he said it. “We want to get married, and Kara said I had to talk to you about it.”

Bill hmmed. Lee didn’t know how to take that, so he kept going, “I know we haven’t been dating very long, but we love each other, and we’d really like your approval.”

The Old Man managed to get himself under control, because he took his hand away from his mouth and said, “You’re right. You haven’t been dating long. Only a few months.” He shook his head and said, “I’m sorry, Kara. I just can’t do this.”

Lee’s “Daaad!” sounded panicked.

Bill smiled and got up, coming around the table to hug Lee and kiss Kara’s forehead. He stood with his hands on both their shoulders and said, “This is fantastic! I knew you’d like each other.” Poor Lee was stupefied, and sat there with a blank look on his face until his dad smacked the back of his head lightly. “Son, I just told you it’s okay to get married. You’re allowed to be glad about that.”

He went back to his seat and beamed across the table at the two of them. “Kara, break it down for me.”

She nodded. She’d learned over the years how he liked his information presented, and in what order, so she pulled out the list she had on her tablet and picked out the salient points for him.

“What’s the rush, Kara?” Before she could answer, he said it himself. “Oh, Ben. You want him here. Of course.” They talked a bit more, then Bill asked, “What about gifts? Are you going to register somewhere? Ordinarily, I’d have you to help me pick out the perfect gift for the occasion.”

Kara laughed inside, but kept her smile nondescript. “Actually, I have a solution for that, Old Man. Ms. Roslin, Laura? You met her at Mrs. Cole’s funeral.” When he nodded, she continued, “I’ve got her contact information, and she gave me permission to pass it on to you - said she’d be happy to help you with a woman’s perspective at any time. And she knows me pretty well, so she knows what I like.”

“You’re not matchmaking, are you, Kara?” He gave her a mock-stern look.

“Of course not! I know you love your life the way it is, don’t need romance, blah, blah, blah.” She grinned at Lee, who was watching the whole exchange with avid curiosity. “Your dad and I have had more than one talk about dating - mine and his.”

“Ah.”

“Time off, Kara?”

“Well, Lee can only get about a week right now, so I won’t need much - maybe the week before and the week after. I have plenty of time booked, and the week before, I’ll be available by phone if you need me. I’ll see what I can do about finding you someone to work with the week I’m out of touch.”

“That brings up something I’d been meaning to discuss with you. Guess you want to hear about it, too, Lee. I’m thinking about retiring, Kara.”

Kara’s first thought was there was something wrong health-wise, the reason for his extending his time off a few months ago. “You’re all right? Nothing I need to know about?”

“I’m fine, Kara, just getting tired. And to be honest, you do most of my work anyway, even when I’m in the office. I’ve never had anyone get the way I think before, and it makes things much easier.” He shook his head. “No, I just want to take some time, maybe do a bit of traveling, see some of the things I didn’t when I was ‘seeing the world’ in the service.”

“You’d tell me if there were.” She didn’t make it a question.

“Any other assistant, I would say it’s none of their business, but you, Kara, I would tell you if there were anything to worry about.”

“Good. You’re about to become my father-in-law. I’d like you to be around to meet your grandchildren.” Lee’s hand tightened on her thigh when she said that. She’d have to remember they needed to talk about kids. She put her hand back on top of his and stroked it with her thumb.

Bill raised his brow, but didn’t say anything about it. “My point was that when I retire, someone’s going to need to fill my place at the company. I’d like it to be you, Kara. I want to put your name before the board as my replacement.”

Lee was quick to chime in. “That’s fantastic, Kara!”

“Why me, sir? I like my job. I don’t want yours.”

“Kara,” Bill said gently, “you already do my job. Didn’t I just say that? We can talk more about this at the office, because there’s more to it than just me suggesting you for the job. Just think about it, okay?”

She nodded. 

“And while you’re trying to find someone for the week you’re gone, start thinking about what kind of person would work well with you. Pretend it’s an assignment, if you have to.”

Kara added a note to her list and put away her tablet.

By this time, their meals had arrived, so they all set about eating, keeping the conversation more general for the remainder of the meal.

The Old Man insisted on paying, and as they were leaving, he hugged them both. “I’m glad this is working out so well. We should find Zak a girlfriend next.” He waited for them to protest, then grinned and said, “Just kidding.”

She and Lee watched him walk toward his car, and they headed toward Lee’s. 

“Kids, Kara?”

She swallowed. The flat affect of his voice was hard to read. She stopped and faced him. “I’m sorry. I was just reacting to the idea of your dad being sick or something. I shouldn’t have said it the way I did. Do you hate the idea, Lee?”

“I don’t hate it, no. It was a surprise, that’s all. To be honest, I never really thought much about having kids.”

“For a long time, I didn’t think I’d want any. My mother was…” Kara waved her hand in the air between them. “She wasn’t a very good mother. Ben thinks I don’t remember what our life was like before she died, but I do, and it’s made me value what we had after she was gone so much more.” She raised her hand to his cheek. “What Ben gave me was a priceless gift. I want to pass it along.” She took his hand and started walking again, leaning against his shoulder. “Would you rather wait, Lee?”

He waited to answer until they were in the car. He turned to her. “Kara, I want _you_. If you want to get married right now, tomorrow, then that’s what we’ll do. If you want kids, we’ll have them. If you want to work, you’ll work, and if you want to stay home and never work another day in your life, you can do that, too. I’m madly in love with you, and there’s nothing I won’t do to help you be happy.”

His earnest face was adorable, but she couldn’t resist teasing him just a little bit. “Even if I want us to quit our jobs and move to a remote cabin off the grid?” He started to protest, then he looked intrigued, so she rushed to stop that train of thought. “I’m kidding, Lee. I like my electricity and running water.” She leaned forward a bit more, pulling at his shirtfront to bring him closer. “Right this minute, I want you to kiss me.”

“I did say anything you want.” He’d barely touched lips with her when a horn honked in front of them, and Lee’s phone rang.

“Yeah, dad?” He listened for a few seconds and told Kara, “He said to wait until we got home for that. We’re going to frighten people.”

“You tell the Old Man we’ll make out in the car if we want to.”

Lee held the phone away from his ear, and she could hear Bill laughing. “Guess you heard her, huh?” He rolled his eyes at Kara. “We were leaving anyway.” He punched the ‘end’ key and tossed the phone into the console.

“Hey, Lee?”

“Yeah?”

“When you picked me up, Zak was playing video games with Ben. You think maybe he’s still there?”

He smiled at her and picked up his phone again. “There’s only one way to find out.”  
~~~~~~~~~~  
“I don’t want anything big, Laura, just the few people I’m really close to. I’d be happy with doing it in a park, or something else outdoors.”

“There’s that park near downtown - the one with the gazebo in the middle? If it’s just a few people, that’d be a great place, even if the weather doesn’t cooperate.”

Kara sat up straight, smiling. “That gazebo is perfect! I love it! Any idea who I should talk to? You always seem to know.”

“Stans. He’s not the department head, but he’s the one who actually approves the park-use permits - I’ve had to work with him before on school field trips to city facilities. I’ll have to look up his first name.” She pulled her phone out to search her email contacts.

“Do you think the park would be available in the next month? It’s not a huge wedding month, but the park is usually still pretty busy during off-months.”

I think they’d be happy to have a little revenue coming in. If you’re going to have a small wedding, what about a reception, or a party later in the year? You know so many people are going to want to celebrate with you - they don’t all know the story, but they know you went through a tough time after your mom died, and during high school.”

“I’d rather have a party later. I’ve got the wedding to plan, finding an apartment, moving, honeymoon, adjusting to living with Lee...I’d rather have it later, closer to summer maybe.”

“Why don’t you let me plan that, then? I can coordinate with your boss - with Bill - he’s known you a long time, and he’ll know who to invite on that side of the equation.”

“Kendra and Karl, too. They’ll both probably want to have some embarrassing icebreakers or prizes or something.”

Laura grinned at her. “Of course. Embarrassing the newlyweds is part and parcel of giving them a party. You can count on us to do a thorough job of it.”

Kara stuck her tongue out. “I’m so relieved. That was going to keep me up nights, worrying that my party might be too perfect.” She looked down at her list. “Um, Laura? Do you think that you could be with me that day?” She added hastily, “I mean, Kendra will be there, of course, but maybe you could be sort of like my mom?”

Laura reach across the table and gripped Kara’s hand. “Of course I will. I’d be delighted, Kara.”

“Good. Thanks. I know it’s not exactly the same as being at your own daughter’s wedding…”

“Maybe it’s not the same, but you chose me back in high school, chose to trust me when you felt like your world was coming apart, and I’ve always felt like we were more than just student and teacher. I’ve looked forward to being in your life for the important things, and I’m so very glad that you’ve kept in touch.”

Kara flushed. “Of course I did. I don’t know what I would have done without you to come to.”

Laura squeezed her hand again. “Let’s get back to the planning. We’re getting perilously close to needing tissues.”

Kara laughed a little as she looked around the restaurant. “Good idea.” She checked her list again. “Dress. Shoes. Oh! Spa. I want to take you and Kendra to the spa before the wedding. Some girly relaxing. My treat, of course.”

“That would be fun! Do you think she has time for a weekend, or a whole Saturday?”

“I can probably twist her arm. Have to get the date settled first, then I can book the spa.” She moved on. “I want something fancy for the dress, but not formal. I want to be comfortable. There’s that shop…”

Conversation continued, with Kara making notes on places to look at dresses, and Laura finding Stans’ name in her email contacts. When they had most everything ironed out, Kara said, “Then all I’ll have to do is put together a spreadsheet with everybody’s contacts, and email it to you. When you get with the Old Man -” She stopped herself when Laura gave her a stern look. “Sorry, when you get together with Bill, he can add anybody whose contact information I don’t have.” She checked her list one more time. “I think that’s everything. You don’t think I’m rushing this, do you?”

“Do you have any doubts at all, Kara?” Laura’s voice was gentle, soothing.

Kara shook her head. “It’s weird, but I don’t. Not anymore. At first, I kept expecting him to turn out just like the others, but that was just my own insecurities. Lee is - he’s not perfect, but he’s really great - he makes me feel safe, and I make him smile. I just _know_ somehow. It doesn’t make sense, really.”

“It makes perfect sense, Kara. Some people find exactly the right person for them, and you - maybe this is your reward for all those crappy guys the universe kept throwing at you.”

Kara laughed delightedly. “That. I love that idea! Makes it even harder to wait to unwrap him.”

“And that is where I turn you over to Kendra, because much as I love you, I have no desire to get into your love life.”

“Especially since, if you play your cards right, you might end up being his mother.” Kara watched as Laura’s face colored.

“We are not discussing that, young lady.” Laura laughed as she said it.

“I’ll include the information about his book club in the spreadsheet.”

“You do that,” Laura said tartly.

They finished their late lunch with more general discussion - pyramid, books, Ben, Zak, and how things were going at school this year for Laura - before going their separate ways.  
~~~~~~~~~~  
“So you took him out there, got right down to it, and then couldn’t follow through?” Kendra wrinkled her forehead.

Kara nodded.

“And since you’re marrying him, it’s clearly not because you don’t want him.”

“I do. Gods, I want him. Have since the first night we had coffee. Thought about frakkin’ him right there in the godsdamn parking lot up against my car.”

“You weren’t safe out at the lake.”

Kara shook her head. “Of course I was, Kendra! I was with Lee.”

“Not that kind of safe. I mean that you thought all you would need would be the two of you, finally alone. Then when you were, it didn’t work. Some part of _you_ didn’t feel safe frakking Lee outside where anybody could see. I think you just need the comfort of your own space.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Ben and Zak are always at your place? Don’t either of them ever date?”

“I know Zak does. Ben must - he goes out some evenings, but if he’s dating someone, or even just out getting laid, he’s not telling me about her.” Kara missed the storm that passed across Kendra’s face at the mention of Ben ‘out getting laid.’

“You just need to get everybody out of the apartment for a night, or a weekend. Or else just wait until you’re married, and frak on your honeymoon.”

“Gods, Kendra, I can’t wait that long!”

“Kara Thrace, you are trying to get married within the month. You’re telling me you can’t wait a few weeks to get it on with Lee?”

Kara hung her head, pouting. “I don’t wanna wait. I want him now.”

Kendra laughed at her. “When you do that, you look so much like pictures of Ben when he was younger. Clearly, the Thrace genes are dominant.”

“Frak off, Kendra.” Kara swatted at Kendra’s arm.

“Have you tried at his apartment?”

“Yeah. It’s like Zak has radar telling him when we’re trying to get horizontal, and he comes home. And their bedroom wall is thin. Trust me. _Thin_. We’ve barely managed some very tame making out.”

“I could talk to Ben…try to get him out of the house for something.”

“Gods. I can just see that conversation. ‘Come on, Ben. Your little sister wants to frak her boyfriend, and you’re harshing her groove. Be a good sport and stay out of the house so she can get laid.’ That would go over so well, Kendra.”

“I may have other ways to persuade him.” Kendra cocked her head in Kara’s direction.

“Not ways that would get me laid,” Kara grumbled.

“Take a weekend away. Go to a hotel. Shack up for the weekend - room service and all. Explore without -”

Kara was already shaking her head. “No. I think you’re right. I want our first time to be in my space. My bed. My pillows. My stuff. So I have to figure out a way to get rid of Ben and Zak.” She stood up and started pacing. “Wait. Maybe I could get Bill to invite Ben and Zak out to his place for a boys’ weekend, like, to plan a bachelor party for Lee or something.” She started pacing again. “Frak. I have to settle on a wedding date first. Then plan the spa weekend around that. Make sure my sexy weekend isn’t the same weekend as that. Make sure the weekend I plan for me and Lee is the same weekend Bill gets the guys out to his place.” Kara sighed. “So much work for sex. Why can’t it be easy?”

“Guess you could always just get it over with - quick and dirty in the back seat of his car.”

“Oh my gods, Kendra. No frakkin’ way I’m frakkin’ in the back seat of some car. Not with Lee.” Kara ran her hands through her hair and sat back down. “Enough. Let’s talk about your love life for a while.”

“Not much to tell. He’s -”

Kara pounced on that. “He? There’s _a_ guy? Someone special? How come I haven’t seen him?”

“He’s not always in town. When he is, he’s got family obligations.”

“Family - wait, are you seeing a married man, Kendra? Please tell me you’re not.”

“He’s not married. He’s just not ready for his family to know. Or more like they’re not ready to know about me.”

“Well, why the frak not? Is he ashamed of you or something? I can beat him up for you. Better yet, get Ben to do it.”

“Ben doesn’t need to beat the guy up, Kara. Just leave it alone, okay?”

Kara scooted closer and put her arm around Kendra. “He’s not breaking your heart, is he?”

“Nope. He wants to be with me. It’s just hard waiting for the right time for him to tell his family.” She leaned into Kara.

“He should get it over with. He could come to my wedding with you. I could meet him.”

“We’ll see. Now can we talk about something else? Please?”

Kara let herself be detoured. “Can you come shopping with me this week? I want to get some dress ideas, and I want to buy some _underwear_.”

“Shopping I can do. Tuesday?”

“Tuesday’s great!”  
~~~~~~~~~~  
When Ben’s phone rang late that night, he was glad he was out. Kara would definitely have heard it and thought it was one of his instant-deployments. “What’s up, Kendra?”

“Your sister knows I’m dating someone. She thought I was seeing a married man, and I’m not sure I convinced her otherwise. You need to tell her, Ben.”

“I know. I keep meaning to tell her, but it always seems like the wrong time.”

“Kara’s not an idiot, Benjamin Thrace. If she figures it out on her own, she’ll be pissed at both of us for lying to her, but she’ll take it out on me, Ben. She adores you. She won’t stay mad at you for long. Me, she might disown for a while. That would make things even worse.”

Ben rubbed his head. “I know you’re right. Maybe I should take her to dinner or something.”

“No. Sit down on your frakkin’ couch with a burger and some beers or something and just spit it out. Do that hot chocolate thing you guys do. That way, if she needs to yell at you and get it out, she can do it and get it over with. She’s stronger than you think she is, Ben. Tell her.”

“I’ll figure out a way to tell her this weekend. I’m sorry we had to do it this way, Kendra. I probably should have told her from the beginning, but the big bad soldier was afraid of his little sister, I guess.”

“I think she’ll be happy, eventually, if she knows you are.”

“I am.”

“Me, too. Except for hiding everything from your sister for nearly a year.”

Ben laughed. “Okay, Kendra. I get the message. Tell Kara we’re dating.”

“Night, Benjamin Thrace.”

“Night, Kendra Shaw.”


End file.
